Evansville, IN – The COVID-19 Crisis Response Fund of the Greater Evansville Region is excited to announce a $150,000 match made available from the Welborn Baptist Foundation. This allows for every dollar you donate to the COVID-19 Crisis Response Fund of the Greater Evansville Region to be matched dollar for dollar up to $150,000. 

In 2020, Welborn Baptist Foundation graciously supported the fund with a $300,000 gift. These dollars helped to launch the fund, in partnership with a handful of other local organizations, with initial financial and in-kind support. Now, 11 months later, the fund’s positive impact can clearly be seen resulting in Welborn Baptist’s Foundation decision to support the fund again with the match. 

“Our hope was that those “first in dollars” would catalyze broader support and awareness of the fund’s purposes and potential impact. We hope our matching grant will again catalyze broader and confident giving to meet the $6,000,000 goal,” said Pat Creech, Welborn Baptist Foundation Executive Director. 

Currently, more than $5,640,000 has been committed toward the $6 million goal. To donate today, visit www.covidresponsefund.com or text the phrase “dowhatyoucan” to 41-444. Checks will also be accepted at all Old National Bank and Heritage Federal Credit Union branches. Checks should be made payable to United Way of Southwestern Indiana and all donations should reference “COVID-19 Crisis Response Fund of the Greater Evansville Region (or GERF)” in the memo. Contributions may also be mailed to: United Way of Southwestern Indiana, 318 Main Street, Suite 504, E 

Ivy Tech Community College Evansville has several recent new hires. They include:

 Scott Derr is now an Employer Consultant at Ivy Tech Community College. He also currently is an adjunct faculty member. He holds bachelor’s degrees from USI in social science education and from Wabash College in classical studies and psychology. He also holds a master’s degree in adult and community education and executive development for public service from Ball State University. He earned a graduate certificate in united states history from America Public University.

Derr previously worked for the College as an account executive and program manager for corporate college. Since then, he was the industrial design manager for Indiana University (IUPUI) for the training partnership with the Indiana Department of Child Services, an adjunct faculty member for Southern New Hampshire University, and an education specialist for the YMCA of Greater Indianapolis.
Scott has also served as alumnus advisor for the Kappa Sigma Fraternity at Wabash College, an agency evaluator for the United Way of Central India, and volunteer/director for the Evansville Freedom Festival.

Simone Payne is now a career experience specialist at Ivy Tech Community College. She holds a bachelor’s degree in English from Western Kentucky University.

Payne previously worked for the EVSC as manager of special projects and student programs. She is a member of Alpha Kappa Psi Business Fraternity and holds a certificate of principled leadership from the organization. Payne is also a Executive team member of The DNA Lab, an enrichment, youth program under the umbrella of the Evansville African American Museum.

Rachel Williams is now a career experience specialist at Ivy Tech Community College She holds a bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism from Syracuse University and a master’s degree in business administration from Texas A & M University.

Williams previously worked for Texas A &M University as a financial aid manager and the University of Arkansas as manager of student services.

Laura Nead is now a math instructor at Ivy Tech Community College. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics Education from Greenville College and a master’s degree in mathematics from Eastern Illinois University.

Nead previously worked as an instructor at Frontier Community College for nearly 18 years in Fairfield Illinois. She also served as an adjunct faculty for Ivy Tech for the past year and a half.

Dann Adkins is now an associate professor for Industrial Technology at Ivy Tech Community College. He has earned career development certificates in Industrial Welding Level 1, Tool and Die Specialty, Specialized training from Ivy Tech. He also holds an associate of applied science in Industrial Technology Specialization: CAD/CAM Programming as well as a bachelor’s degree in Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering from Indiana Tech. Other certifications Adkins holds include: NIMS Level 1, NIMS Level 2, Fanuc CNC Programming, Fanuc Robot Programming, Hexagon CMM Programming Level 1 PCDIMIS and MSSC Manufacturing Certified Production Technician.

Nead previously worked as an instructor at Ivy Tech Community College in Warsaw Indiana and an adjunct instructor at Ivy Tech in Evansville, a large lathe operator at C & A Tool, and a substitute teacher for Wawasee School Corporation.

Heather Klem is now a nursing instructor at Ivy Tech Community College. She holds a bachelor’s degree in nursing from Kaplan University and recently earned a master’s degree in nursing education from Purdue Global Online.

Klem previously worked as a staff nurse for the Cardiac Renal Care Center, and a procedure nurse for the Pain Management Procedure Center both at Deaconess Hospital. She is also a photographer.

Klem teaches Sunday School at her local church.

SANS SAND

GAVEL GAMUT By Jim Redwine

Just when it looked like it might be safe to leave the beach and go back in the water the beach is disappearing. After more than a year of masks and isolation Peg and I finally got our second Pfizer shots last Friday. We just need to avoid all human contact for one more week. We were anticipating a return to a normal life. Then I read of an alarming new and totally unexpected world crisis, a sand shortage? Yep, that was the cautionary tale screaming from the Internet. I know I should not use my iPhone for anything but ordering from Amazon, but I find it impossible to ignore the AOL pop-ups in my email.  I know better but still click on the cleverly worded come-ons beseeching me to read about global warming, COVID-19, politics, sports or even Prince Harry and the Duchess of Sussex. This morning as the sun rose I was dinged with an exposé about our planet’s disappearing sands. Had I been aware of the situation I wouldn’t have recognized it even was a problem until I read the CNBC article shouting out the impending catastrophe of sans sand. So, Gentle Reader, just in case you might not have been panicking over this issue either, let me share my newly found angst.

Until this morning about my only concern in regard to sand was Peg’s complaint that I traipse it into our cabin after I have been out walking on the sandstone covered prairie. Peg demands that I leave my boots at the door and slide around in my socks on our bare floors. Now I can tell her I am helping to save the planet when I accumulate sand on her clean floors. She just needs to start bagging it up. Anyway, here’s what the Internet says is as significant to the world as fighting the pandemic.

According to an article on CNBC by Sam Meredith, sand is the world’s most consumed raw material after water and it is, “… an essential ingredient to our everyday lives”. In a “coals to New Castle” type comment the article goes on to say the United State government is hauling in countless tons of sand to protect Florida’s beaches that have been decimated by global warming. Apparently this is a world-wide dilemma and just as some people blame China for COVID-19, China’s over use of sand in massive construction projects accounts for almost 60% of the world use of sand as it is mixed into cement. It takes 10 tons of sand to produce 1 ton of cement.

You, as did I, might think that with such deposits as Sahara or Death Valley or the front yard of JPeg Osage Ranch, we would never run out of sand. However, it turns out that not all sand is created equally.

Desert sands, those created from wind instead of water such as by the seas and rivers, are too smooth to be used for construction so we are depleting our “good” sand too rapidly. There is even a huge illegal enterprise in sand excavation in some countries that has led to mafia type activity or so says CNBC.

As for me, I have resigned myself to continuing to pour cement into fence post holes and hope there will be enough to circle our new barn. If Peg does her part we might be able to make it stretch.

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