ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, June 14, 1996 TAG: 9606140007
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-9 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: KRISHA CHACHRA SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES
He was a Lion's Lion. If you wanted to know what a Lion was about you could have asked Morris Lepchitz.
So were the words of treasurer and former president of the Radford Host Lions Club, Louis Kent.
Last month, on behalf of the Lions Club, Kent presented $5,000 to the Radford High School Foundation in memory of Morris Lepchitz.
"We're going to give this money to perpetuate the memory of Morris," Kent said. "This money won't be gone, but put in a fund to finance what Morris liked to do ... that is, helping people."
The Lions Club in Radford, a civic organization that contributes to worthy causes in the community, donates around $500 to the foundation annually. But this contribution is special in that it is the first time the club has donated money to RHS in the memory of someone, explained Lions Club President Dan Phelps.
Lepchitz, who died in 1991, was a longtime member, president and district governor of the Lions Club. He was a Radford native who graduated from Radford High School in 1941 and operated the Felix department store downtown.
"This gesture is a great honor in the memory of my dad and it means a lot to us," said Norman Lepchitz. In addition, the Lepchitz family contributed $2,500 toward the Morris Lepchitz fund.
These contributions to the RHS Foundation increase the already existing endowment of more than $150,000 and narrow the gap toward the $250,000 goal of the fund-raising campaign for this year.
The RHS Foundation was established in 1986 to encourage innovative teaching initiatives within the Radford school system. The fund-raising campaign took off in 1991 with a goal of establishing a $100,000 endowment in five years.
It took only one year to reach that goal.
Since then, the endowment has swelled beyond its initial goal with more than 72 contributors of $1,000 or more and 53 pledges of $500 or more.
"Various people have given money in memory of another person, but this is a special kind of contribution in that it is set up to be a fund within a fund. Under the criteria from the Lions Club the money from [the Morris Lepchitz fund] will go to help kids in school that need help," Charles Fretwell said.
Much like the Morris Lepchitz fund, the foundation has funds established within the existing endowment that are designated for a specific purpose.
"We have a fund for a Radford coach who has been honored by a lot of people who played sports for him over the years and that money goes into supporting sports programs," Fretwell said.
After the money is received it goes into the endowment and isn't touched. Only the interest earned by the money is allocated toward innovative programs, member Charles Fretwell explained.
The grant money allows teachers to put those projects into effect that don't get funding within the school system, Fretwell said. "The teachers are overjoyed by the success they have been able to achieve by using this money."
Grant applications are submitted each September to the members of the foundation board, and reviewed by a committee. The selected grants are then awarded in November.
"We've let the foundation decide how to allocate the [Morris Lepchitz fund], but basically the money is targeted to help kids that are underprivileged with field trips and other school activities that require traveling," Phelps said.
Priority is given to the projects that exemplify uniqueness, innovative style and imagination. The number of students that are served by the grant is a major consideration for funding. All four city schools are eligible for grants.
In the past the money has been used to fund projects such as the high school tutoring program to help students with problems in academics. Since its creation, the program has been continued and now is administered by the school system.
Fifteen separate projects received funding this year including a program to enrich a number of Radford High School students' Spanish skills. Jean Fender's class at Belle Heth Elementary School identified 24 species of birds as part of two separate grants to support a bird studies program. Youngsters at Dalton Intermediate School became authors of short stories and poems while "Loving Music for Life" was the topic for a project at McHarg Elementary.
The RHS Foundation is a qualified nonprofit organization and gifts are tax deductible. Questions or donations can be directed to the Radford High School Foundation Inc., P.O. Box 2823, Radford, Va., 24143-2823.
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