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As you are well aware, the last two weeks of May brought extreme severe weather to central Oklahoma. As a community foundation, we serve a unique role in helping donors respond to these tragedies and the generosity has come from throughout the country. By the end of the day on May 20th, we had reopened the Tornado Recovery Fund that was initially established in response to the May 3, 1999 tornado. Gifts to this fund will focus on providing assistance with intermediate and long-term recovery efforts. We are also meeting with local nonprofit organizations that provide or support mental health services to begin discussions dealing with the long-term mental health needs of first responders and those impacted directly by the tornadoes.

We have also received requests from donors who wanted to give to a fund that would help with immediate needs. The Community Emergency Fund is assisting local nonprofit organizations who are working directly with those impacted. In addition, several major employers have established funds with us to assist with unmet needs of their employees who were directly impacted by the storms.

Another fund that has been established and garnered several significant gifts is the Shelter Oklahoma Schools fund. Created by the owners of Norman Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram dealership with a $100,000 gift, the purpose of the fund is to help to provide storm shelters in and around Oklahoma schools and communities. The Apache Foundation made a $500,000 gift to the fund and is matching $500,000 in gifts. You can read more about this fund at www.shelteroklahomaschools.org.

As of June 7th, we had processed more than 1,000 gifts for a total of $1.8 million to the funds mentioned above. Of the gifts, 445 have been made through our secure online giving service. In comparison, we received a total of 280 online gifts during 2012. It has been an "all-hands-on-deck" scenario and I appreciate the staff's efforts.

Ten nonprofit organizations recently received a total of $181,700 in grants through the Opportunities for Children iFund program. Since 2011, the fund awards grants to nonprofit organizations who are providing direct services in central Oklahoma to children from birth to age 14 who otherwise wouldn't have access to services. This year, the program gave special consideration to those programs that focused on preschool and services for physically or developmentally delayed children.

The iFund grant program is funded through several Field of Interest Funds and additional support comes from funds whose original purpose is obsolete. In keeping with our variance power, the Trustees elected to pool the spendable amounts of the funds to support programs meeting similar needs of original intent.

We are currently accepting applications for the Access to Health Care iFund and will accept grant applications later this year for the Services for Elderly iFund. To learn more about these funds and review recent grants, please visit www.ifundokc.org.

In late March, the Oklahoma City Community Foundation lost a great friend with the death of John Lampton Belt. John had served as our general counsel since 1985. Through his work with the Kirkpatrick family, John quickly became one of our most vocal advocates. A well-respected attorney, John was also an accomplished singer and actor. His passion for the arts led him to lead the charge on establishing the Harding Fine Arts Academy, a charter school housed in a former elementary school located near another product of his passion, the Paseo Arts District. To honor the many contributions to the arts and the overall community made by John and his wife Joy Reed Belt, the Kirkpatrick Family Fund recently established the John and Joy Reed Belt Arts & Education Fund, a permanent endowment fund for the benefit of the academy. A fitting and enduring tribute to a wonderful individual.