(File Photo) American Red Cross of the Ohio River Valley Executive Director Sharon Kesselring cuts the ribbon during the emergency vehicle dedication ceremony on Wednesday at the Red Cross office in Parkersburg.

PARKERSBURG — Once a reliable source of support for local non-profits, the past several decades have seen a decline in the Mid-Ohio Valley’s larger employers and a subsequent change in giving.

Companies like Marbon – which became Borg-Warner, then GE, then SABIC – Challenger Electric, Vitrolite, Vitro-Agate, Ames, Kardex, FMC, Airolite, Diamond Glass, Demuth Glass, B.F. Goodrich, Johns Manville and Corning, among others, employed thousands of people in the Mid-Ohio Valley.

Many of the companies flourished during and after World War II and continued to operate into the 1970s and 1980s. Many downsized or closed due to changing economic needs, global competition, automation and changes in consumer preferences.

Marian Clowes, associate director for the Sisters Health Foundation, has been involved with fundraising and nonprofits for many years.

Clowes said when she moved to the Mid-Ohio Valley in the early 1990s, there was a more vibrant business and manufacturing community, and she knows that it was even more robust prior to that.

(File Photo) Donors and volunteers gather behind the ribbon for the dedication ceremony and ribbon cutting for the American Red Cross of the Ohio River Valley’s new Disaster Relief Operation emergency vehicle on Wednesday. The organization raised enough money over the course of a year to purchase the $150,000 vehicle.

“I had been told that companies like Borg Warner, for example, provided a lot of support for non-profits in the community while they were headquartered here, and I do recall that leadership from the various plants in the area served on nonprofit boards, lending their expertise and support,” she said.

“Given that some companies have closed or have less of a presence in the area, I think that the fundraising environment for nonprofits in the region has become more challenging over the decades. This is even more the case recently with federal funding cutbacks. It’s challenging for nonprofits to secure the resources they need to effectively deliver services, while community needs continue to rise. I expect that this trend will continue and increase in the coming years,” Clowes said.

Julie Posey is senior development and stewardship officer with Parkersburg Area Community Foundation & Regional Affiliates, which works with individuals, businesses and others to set up funds and other support mechanisms for a variety of programs in the area.

Posey said larger employers, such as DuPont and the former Shell, brought new faces to the Mid-Ohio Valley and gave many native residents a reason to stay.

“It is my understanding that these were well-paying careers that offered individuals the financial capacity to give back, not just with their dollars, but with their time and talent. Many employees of these companies became deeply invested in the health and vibrancy of our region, choosing to engage with local nonprofits, serve on boards, volunteer their skills and, in some cases, even help establish organizations that still serve our community today,” she said.

(File Photo) Full-time American Red Cross of the Ohio River Valley volunteer Charles Clegg stands beside the brand new Disaster Relief Operation emergency vehicle during the dedication ceremony on Wednesday at the organization’s Parkersburg office.

Posey said those individuals did more than work locally, they became an integral part of the social fabric.

“Their contributions of time, talent and treasure are still making a difference. At the Parkersburg Area Community Foundation, we are proud to partner with many individuals, past and present, who had strong ties to these larger regional employers. The charitable funds they established are prudently managed to support our area forever, and their founders’ commitment to community betterment lives on through every grant awarded in their name,” Posey said.

“Many families have told us over the years that the Mid-Ohio Valley is a wonderful place to raise children. It is our hope that the next generation continues to see the value in our region and is inspired to give back and get involved as their parents, grandparents and great-grandparents did. That enduring spirit of community investment is what will keep our nonprofits, and our region, thriving,” she said.

Both Clowes and Posey said they have seen a change in recent years toward a more corporate-focused style of giving. Many of the remaining large employers have moved toward setting up charitable foundations within the company which can have both positive and negative effects.

Many of the local companies are part of larger national and international groups. While that may mean more resources for giving, it can also mean more competition for those dollars, they said, as the local nonprofits vie for support with similar programs nationally and globally.

(File Photo) American Red Cross of the Ohio River Valley volunteer Charles Clegg shows the audience the features on the emergency vehicle that will help him perform his duties.

Sharon Kesselring, executive director of the American Red Cross of the Ohio River Valley, has spent 36 years working for nonprofits.

Kesselring said fundraising has changed over the last several decades, but not necessarily in a bad way. Corporations have become more targeted in their giving.

There are also many more nonprofits seeking support, Kesselring said. Those nonprofits need to be aware and active in seeking every resource available and to be more focused on reaching people and making them aware of the benefits they provide. Nonprofits are also more organized, she said, using the Red Cross as an example, by combining previously smaller units into larger entities.

“It’s just a matter of being open and of being good stewards of the dollars we receive,” she said.

Lisa Starcher Collins has spent years working with Habitat for Humanity of the Mid-Ohio Valley and was also previously executive director for Artsbridge in the early 1990s, both of which involved raising funds for nonprofits.

(File Photo) The new Disaster Relief Operation emergency vehicle was purchased by the American Red Cross of the Ohio River Valley and presented to the public Wednesday.

Collins said she has also seen a lot of changes in fundraising. Such efforts used to be much simpler and primarily involved personal contact with company officials and administrators to outline what was needed in the community, she said. These days, it’s less personal and most employers who provide funding for nonprofits have gone to online application processes.

Collins said the changes in corporate giving are occurring at the same time as government cuts have affected nonprofits, causing additional impacts.

Many people who previously supported nonprofits to smaller or larger degrees are also being impacted in general, with less disposable income to help such programs, she said. Nonprofits are always looking for new and different ways that people can support them.

(File Photo) American Red Cross of the Ohio River Valley Executive Director Sharon Kesselring gives the opening remarks during the emergency vehicle dedication ceremony on Wednesday.

(File Photo) Members of the Sisters of St. Joseph, from left, Sr. Jane Harrington, Sr. Kathleen Durkin, Sr. Judith Minear, CSJ associate Ann Griffth, CSJ associate Kathleen Roedersheimer, Sr. Virginia Yeater, Sr. Molly Bauer and Renee Steffen, executive director of the Sisters Health Foundation.

(File Photo) Renee Steffen, executive director of the Sisters Health Foundation, claps during the foundation’s annual Grant Partner Luncheon on Thursday at the Grand Pointe Conference Center in Vienna. The foundation granted $1.1 million to 102 organizations.

(File Photo) Speakers at the 25th annual Grant Partner Luncheon of the Sisters Health Foundation were, from left: Haley Hunter, a pharmacist at the Rising Suns Non-Profit Pharmacy; Sarah Adkins, founder of the Rising Suns Non-Profit Pharmacy; Kat Bigley, director of the Amputee Center; Nancy Miller, founder of the Amputee Center; Sr. Kathleen Durkin; Sr. Judith Minear.