Staff reports
Enid News and Eagle
ENID — Community Development Support Association received a boost Friday in its Building Potential Campaign from Enid oilman Lew Ward. Ward announced Friday he had established a $10,000 matching fund to encourage local donations for CDSA, which is working to turn the former Newman’s Department Store building downtown into a nonprofit resource center and early childhood resource center. CDSA is nearing completion of a $2.5 million capital campaign to create the centers. The Inasmuch Foundation is matching local gifts up to $250,000. The campaign will be complete when this match is achieved. “Lew Ward’s generous gift means that we have the opportunity to have every dollar given matched twice. As of today, we are only $157,000 short of our goal,” said Mary Stallings campaign chairwoman. The remaining money for the fundraising campaign needs to be raised this month, Cheri Ezzell, CDSA executive director, said previously. Several Oklahoma foundations have pledged thousands of dollars in grants and matching grants. Ezzell said there have been more than 400 other individual and business donors to the project as well. The matching grants will only come through if the local fundraising drive is completed. “CDSA is in the business of helping people to help themselves. We have the rare opportunity to support numerous nonprofits as we help CDSA create the nonprofit center,” Ward said. Seeing what CDSA and the nonprofits it supports are accomplishing “is a pretty good blueprint for building Enid in the future,” he said. Enid, he said, has more volunteers who are willing to help in the community than any other city in the state. Enid is a “philanthropic community,” Ward said. The nonprofit resource center would bring together nonprofit agencies in the community, and could bring together shared services among those agencies, such as receptionist help, grant-writing help and computer technology services. That will take up about half of the building. The other half will be an early childhood resource center, Ezzell said. CDSA has been active with other early childhood advocacy groups to promote services to help at-risk children in the community. A lot of work has been done on the building in preparation for opening the nonprofit and early childhood resource center. Some maintenance and asbestos removal has been done on the building to ready it for remodel and construction once the fundraising is complete. Park Avenue Thrift also is offering a match for donations to help complete the June push for funds. Paula Nightengale, of Park Avenue Thrift, said they are asking people to pledge through Facebook by hitting the “Like” button on the Park Avenue Thrift page and also hitting the “Like” button on the CDSA page and making a pledge on both Facebook pages. Park Avenue Thrift will match those donations up to $12,500.
