Coweta County has again decided to partner with the Coweta Community Foundation by serving as a payroll deduction partner and offering its employees a payroll deduction option that makes donating easier.
The Coweta Community Foundation is a publicly supported 501(c)3 organization that helps focus local philanthropy on the community’s changing needs. The foundation manages individual gifts and bequests as an endowed pool of assets, distributing grants to a wide variety of organizations that enhance and support the quality of life in Coweta County, while maintaining the charitable intent of the donors.
Through its payroll deduction partnership, the foundation gives local businesses another way to help their members be involved in the community’s philanthropic giving.
County Administrator Michael Fouts said, “The majority of Coweta County employees are also Coweta County citizens. Therefore, based on the Coweta Community Foundation’s core value of ‘What’s raised in Coweta, stays in Coweta,’ we felt strongly that allowing our employees to participate in the payroll deduction plan was the right thing to do. Our employees can easily see the benefits of their contributions, and we all want to make our home a better, stronger, and more vibrant community.”
Two of the Coweta County employees who participate in the program are Marie J. Vielot, library manager, and Britt Flowers, who works with public buildings.
Vielot said, “I went to the Community Foundation workshop last year and found out about all the things they do in the community.” Vielot said she was impressed and “thought I could do my small part” to contribute to that effort.
Flowers said he has participated in the payroll deduction platform since its inception and feels a need to give back because “I’ve been blessed with what I have.” He said he was raised with an awareness of the responsibility to help others.
Vielot said she also likes the fact that, as the Foundation is fond of saying, “what’s raised in Coweta stays in Coweta.” She believes the Foundation’s work helps strengthen families, and that in turn strengthens the community. Flowers, on the other hand, said he is less concerned about “the geography” of giving, and his main concern is that people’s needs are met. “I see a lot of people that need it and are probably too embarrassed to even ask for it,” he said.
Ginger Queener, board chair of the Coweta Community Foundation, said, “We are delighted that we will again have Coweta County as one of our payroll deduction partners.” Queener said she is grateful that county employees recognize what the Foundation is doing in the community and want to offer their support.
She also noted that any local business is eligible to start a payroll deduction plan, and no monetary investment is required. The Foundation does the legwork and tailors pledge forms with the company’s logo, handles the enrollment, and provides the company’s payroll department with all the data and documentation needed to send funds to the Foundation.
For more information on the benefits of a charitable payroll deduction benefit, call the Coweta Community Foundation at 770-253-1833.
