The Columbus Foundation announced today the return of The Big Table® on Thursday, October 6. Launched in 2016, The Big Table is a day of community-wide conversations designed to inspire authentic human connection and civic engagement.

The Trustees of The Paul G. Duke Foundation are pleased to announce grants totaling over $155,000 to benefit residents of the Miami County area.

The Columbus College of Art & Design Wolfe Associates Scholarship Endowment was established in 1998 to give economically disadvantaged students the opportunity to pursue a degree at CCAD, specifically in the area of graphic arts.

The scholarship was established by a gift from the estate of George and Florence McGhee. George Crookham McGhee and Florence Marie Hinson were married in Pickaway County, Ohio on August 9, 1930. At that time, the country was in its worst economic depression, and combined their possessions totaled about $1,000. George was a teacher, farmer, and insurance man, and Florence was a teacher. Through their hard work, they changed their economic position to a degree that allowed them to create this generous scholarship. From their perspective as farmers, Mr. and Mrs. McGhee were greatly affected by the way the government’s decisions were negatively affecting members of the farming community. To that end, they chose to support students working for a Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics, to develop talent and knowledge in an effort to improve the economic and social status of American farmers; and hopefully to one day produce a future U.S. Secretary of Agriculture.

The fund grants to qualified students who are deaf or hard of hearing and have demonstrated a strong academic record; financial need; good character; and plan to pursue a full-time, post-secondary education at Gallaudet University, National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID) at Rochester Institute of Technology, or Columbus State Community College.

The scholarship was created by the generosity of Frank Miseta and Elaine Lesnet Miseta. Frank was born in 1922. He was an Army Air Corp veteran of World War II. In 1950, he graduated from The Ohio State University with a degree in law. Elaine Miseta was born in Edon, Ohio. She moved to Columbus for work, where she eventually began work for Bill Ingram at White Castle. Frank and Elaine lived in Upper Arlington, until Frank’s passing in 2004, after 54 years of marriage. Elaine retired from White Castle Headquarters on her 88th birthday after 67 years of service! The couple loved to travel and traveled the world three times. As part of their legacy, they founded this scholarship to benefit graduating seniors from high schools in Williams County, Ohio.

The scholarship was established by Dorrin and Ruth Ross. Natives of Licking County, Ohio, Dorrin and Ruth married and moved to Columbus in 1935. Mr. Ross began his career as a carpenter, worked for the Curtiss-Wright Company during World War II, and spent the remainder of his career with the Ohio Parole Board, working his way from Parole officer to a supervisor before he passed away in June, 1989. Following Ruth Ross’s graduation from Bliss College in Columbus, she became a corporate secretary and the owner and broker of Gateway Realty. Eventually, she took a position with the Ohio Rehabilitation Department, where she worked until disabled by illness in 1986. Mrs. Ross died in June, 1988. Very private people, the Rosses were active in their church and Dorrin was a mason. The scholarship is indicative of Mrs. Ross’s interest in supporting educational opportunities for rural students, inspired by the loss of her family’s farm during the Depression, after her graduation from college.

This society has been in existence since the mid 1950s and is nationwide with local chapters. ASIS members are the heads of security divisions of hospitals, insurance companies, retail outlets, and hotels. They are also security service or product vendors.

The scholarship benefits students from Pike County, Ohio who desire to further their education.

The James W. Faulkner Memorial Fund is a scholarship fund held by The Columbus Foundation on behalf of the Central Ohio Pro Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. It was founded to perpetuate the name, works and ideals of James W. Faulkner (1864-1923), Statehouse correspondent for The Cincinnati Enquirer, founder of the Ohio Legislative Correspondents Association, and dean of political writers during his lifetime. According to a published history of the fund, Faulkner arrived in Columbus in 1890 to cover the Ohio General Assembly and was astonished by what he found. Lobbyists roamed the floors of the legislature even as sessions were held, trying to influence the lawmakers. Political “correspondents” sent reports to Ohio newspapers that were little more than propaganda paid for by the lobbyists. With fellow journalists, Faulkner proposed to legislative leaders that all but working newspapermen be banned from legislative sessions. The journalists then formally organized the group that would become the Ohio Legislative Correspondents Association and elected Faulkner its president. The General Assembly in 1893 gave this organization the role of determining who would have floor privileges as legitimate working journalists, a role that continues to this day. Faulkner served as the group's president for 24 years, and became known for loaning money to needy college students seeking to become journalists. After his death, friends and colleagues collected money for a memorial fund to continue that financial aid. By 1931 the group had raised $13,000 and formed a board to oversee the fund. For the last 50 years it has provided scholarships to journalism students. This fund grants scholarships to deserving journalism students at colleges and universities in the State of Ohio.