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The Florida Grantor, Spring 2003

President's Message

By Sharon Griffith
President & CEO

The Able Trust is pleased to announce that Barry Ward has been named our new Vice President of Endowment Development. After an intense, statewide search, we found our most impressive candidate right here in our own backyard. Barry has spent more than fourteen years in banking and business development in both the Tallahassee and Gainesville areas and comes to us with glowing recommendations.

Endowment gifts and other contributions for all charities have decreased tremendously over the past two years as a result of September 11 and the economic downturn. Barry will focus his long-term strategy on the personal aspects of creating a family fund and a legacy account for a child with a disability, as well as the tax benefits that endowment offers. Over the next few months Barry will be visiting agency directors, our affiliate agencies, our friends in various trust departments and others as he immerses himself in endowment activity.

Our warmest wishes go out to Tom Norman who left The Able Trust to serve as director of endowment for the Florida Dental Health Foundation. We wish him well in his endeavors.

We'd also like to express our best wishes to Jo Ann Hutchinson, executive director for the Commission for Transportation Disadvantaged, who will be retiring this summer. Jo Ann has been a long-time advocate for people with disabilities. We know the future holds excitement for her as she transitions into a new stage in her life.

In the meantime, The Able Trust looks forward to a busy spring, with several new projects in the works. These include the Employer Study that you can read about in this quarter's newsletter. We look forward to sharing those results with you in the next few months. Be sure to visit our website regularly for updates on this, as well as other activities the Foundation has planned.