On Wednesday, May 1, 2024, the Board, staff, and supporters of the Black Belt Community Foundation (BBCF) moved from their previous office to dedicate their new office at 410 Church Street in Selma, Alabama. The move, ribbon cutting, office tours, and street festival were all part of the foundation’s year-long 20th anniversary celebration.
The move from the 609 Lauderdale Street office to the new office, which is owned and has been renovated by BBCF was accomplished in a parade of the staff and leadership of the community foundation. They were accompanied by the Selma High School Band and Cheerleaders.
Felicia Lucky, BBCF President of the foundation, serving 12 counties that cut across the central part of the.” state, welcomed the crowd. They were assembled in a tent in the blocked off street in front of the new office. There were food trucks, a bounce-house and other games in the blocks of Church Street closed for the occasion. Lucky said, “People and communities are the central focus of our foundation and its activities. This new building will help us to accomplish our mission and better serve the community.
A proclamation was read from Alabama Governor Kay Ivey designating May 1 as Black Belt Community Foundation Day in Alabama.
Dr. Carol P. Zippert, founding Board chair of the foundation, was invited to make remarks. She said, “I am glad to be here to tell the story of the BBCF. We must always be ready to tell our own story.
“We, the 16 members of the organizing committee and first board, went through months of discussion and planning in 2003 and 2004 to develop the name, mission, logo, slogan, and plans for our own foundation. We went to visit each of the 12 counties, asking people about their assets and strengths, not their problems and deficiencies. We wanted to start our community foundation to build philanthropy from the grassroots, recognizing our community needs and ways the community could work together to fulfill those needs. After twenty years of work, we have begun to realize the promise and work of our community foundation.”
Former State Senator Hank Sanders, a Selma attorney, who was part of the formation of the foundation said that work on developing a foundation had begun for five years before the formal incorporation of BBCF. The idea for a community foundation came out of discussions of a “Selma Collaborative” which was an alliance of social justice non-profits in Selma and surrounding counties.
“Carol Zippert, who was serving on the Board of the Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation, had visited with community foundations across the country, brought the idea to the Selma Collaborative, as a way to raise and assemble funding for community groups. Then we were contacted by Dr. David Wilson of Auburn and Julian Smith of the Alabama Power Company, who were also looking into the possibility of a community foundation to serve the Alabama Black Belt counties,” said Sanders.
“Our group in Selma, already had incorporated the BBCF Inc. to be a community foundation. We changed the name by dropping the Inc. and the BBCF was born and has moved forward ever since,” said Sanders. He also explained that the motto of the foundation, “Taking what we have, to make what we need”, came from a saying from his mother, who used it to encourage her large family of 13 children, when things got hard.
George McMillan, a former Lieutenant Governor of Alabama, who was an original BBCF Board member also attended and spoke. “We had days and days of meetings to work out the details and plans of BBCF. One thing that we can all be very proud of is our foundation in ‘community associates’ which guide and advise the foundation in every county, help to raise money, and serve as points of contact for people to communicate with the foundation. This is a unique element of BBCF’s structure and operations that other groups wishing to start community foundation have studied and tried to copy,” said McMillan.
Felicia Lucky introduced the current Board of Directors, the staff including Headstart Staff, Community Associates, and other supporters in attendance. She gave a check for $1,000 to the Selma High School Band Director for their participation and invited various ministers to give dedicatory prayers for the dedication. Then current and past board members
Assembled to officially cut a ribbon to open the new office.
Persons interested in learning more about, or to donate to, the Black Belt Community Foundation, may contact the BBCF at 410 Church Street in Selma, Alabama 36702; or by going online to their website at: blackbeltfound.org, or calling 334-874-1126.