These 3 Things: Thanksgiving Edition
Ahead of Thanksgiving break (and while waiting out IU’s football game against Ohio State on Saturday), I’m calling out a few stories that have caught my attention. I’m a big fan of small businesses and non-profits and enjoy giving them a modest boost.
I’m fortunate to know Frank Basile and consider him a friend (one of several hundred he must have in Central Indiana alone). Frank is one of Indiana’s nicest people and finest philanthropists. I got to know him through our work together at the Phoenix Theatre Cultural Centre. Frank and his wife Katrina on Thursday were honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Indiana Philanthropy Awards celebration. In his gracious remarks, Frank quoted Albert Schweitzer: “I don’t know what your destinies will be, but this I know: those of you who will be truly happy are those who will have sought and found how to serve.” Those are words to live by.
Client alert: The Ivy Tech Foundation continues to hit it out of the park. The Foundation has published its annual Impact Report and reported raising $47 million in 2023-24, including more than $5.1 million in scholarship support. Ivy Tech supports a big part of Indiana’s economy, and more than 80 percent of its students graduate without the burden of student loan debt. Now you know part of the reason.
Another man I’m fortunate to know – Steve Fry – has committed $5 million to the University of Indianapolis. Rather than build a building, the Indianapolis Business Journal reported that Steve’s generous donation is designed to give students real-world business experience along with their classroom experience. Steve and others like him are making a big difference for Hoosier students.