The Women’s Endowment Fund of Akron Community Foundation will welcome Akron Marathon founders Steve and Jeannine Marks as the featured guests at its “For Women, Forever” annual dinner on March 10.
Since founding the Akron Marathon in 2003, Steve and Jeannine have grown the race into a world-class event that annually generates more than $8 million in economic impact for the Greater Akron community and to date has raised more than $1 million for local charities. The couple will share their experience in turning passion into philanthropy with hundreds of guests at the annual dinner, which raises money for the Women’s Endowment Fund. Tickets for the event are on sale now at www.regonline.com/ForWomenForever.
Jeannine, a lifelong Akron-area resident and a graduate of the University of Akron, is the director of development at Stewart’s Caring Place. She has been the recipient of numerous awards, including the 2010 Chairman’s Award from the Akron/Summit Convention & Visitors Bureau; the 2012 Special Recognition Award from the Northeast Ohio Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals; and the 2015 Women of Achievement Award from the Women’s Network of Northeast Ohio. In addition to serving on the board of the Akron Marathon, Jeannine also serves on the boards of the Summa Foundation, Children’s Hospital Leadership Team for Haslinger Hospice and Palliative Care, and Akron Children’s Museum.
Steve, a graduate of the University of Akron, is the co-founder and CEO of Main Street Gourmet. In 1992, Akron General Medical Center and Main Street Gourmet created “Muffins for Mammograms,” an award-winning program that provides breast cancer screenings for women in need. Main Street Gourmet also supports the Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank through its “No Muffin Left Behind” program, which raises money through regular bakery outlet sales. A 1993 graduate of Leadership Akron, Steve has received many business accolades, including being a two-time winner of the Small Business Administration’s Small Business Person of the Year Award and the 2012 recipient of the H. Peter Burg Business Leadership Award presented by the Greater Akron Chamber.
This year’s “For Women, Forever” dinner will be held Thursday, March 10, at the Hilton Akron/Fairlawn. The annual event celebrates women’s philanthropy and benefits the Women’s Endowment Fund, which supports programs that improve the health, safety, and economic empowerment of women and girls in Summit County. Tickets start at $75 per person and include a 5:30 p.m. cocktail reception with the fund’s most recent grantees, followed by dinner and the program at 6:30 p.m.
Major sponsors of this year’s event include Akron Children’s Hospital; Bober Markey Fedorovich; Buckingham, Doolittle & Burroughs LLC; Kimberly Haws Falasco/Robert W. Baird & Co.; Kent State University; LeBron James Family Foundation; Dianne and Herb Newman; Summit Management Services; and Zuckerman Consulting Group Inc.
Sponsorship opportunities are still available. To learn more, contact event co-chair Debra Shifrin at 330-762-6474 or [email protected]. For more information about the event, visit www.akroncf.org/WEFAnnualDinner or call 330-376-8522.
About the Women’s Endowment Fund
The Women’s Endowment Fund of Akron Community Foundation was established in 1993 as a permanent endowment committed to encouraging the advancement of Summit County women and girls and their growth as philanthropists. To date, the fund has grown to nearly $3 million and awarded more than $750,000 in grants to improve the quality of life of women and girls. Contributions of any amount are welcome and can be made online at www.akroncf.org/give/WEF or mailed to Women’s Endowment Fund of Akron Community Foundation, 345 W. Cedar St., Akron, OH 44307. For more information, call 330-376-8522 or visit www.akroncf.org/WEF.
About Akron Community Foundation
Celebrating 60 years of building community philanthropy, Akron Community Foundation embraces and enhances the work of charitable people who make a permanent commitment to the good of the community. In 1955, a $1 million bequest from the estate of Edwin Shaw established the community foundation. As of Sept. 30, 2015, it is a philanthropic endowment of more than $176 million with a growing family of more than 500 funds established by charitable people and organizations from all walks of life. The community foundation and its funds welcome gifts of all kinds, including cash, bequests, stock, real estate, life insurance and retirement assets, just to name a few. To date, the community foundation’s funds have awarded approximately $128 million in grants to qualified nonprofit organizations. For more information about Akron Community Foundation or to learn more about creating your own charitable fund, call 330-376-8522 or visit www.akroncf.org.
