Celebrating 40 years of philanthropy

The Optimist International Foundation is the 501(c)3 charitable division of Optimist International. It operates with its own staff and board of directors with the tagline of "Helping Optimists Help Kids." This year, the Optimist International Foundation is celebrating its 40th anniversary.

The festivities began by launching a new website, up-to-date and user friendly, with pages for each district, and with what looks like the ability to feature stories about how the Optimist International Foundation serves Optimist Clubs.

Of course, the Foundation can only serve Optimist Clubs when they collaborate to serve the Foundation. It is sort of a chicken and egg relationship, but donations are needed to help the Foundation do more.

Commemorative pin 

So it should come as no surprise that one of the first stories is about how Optimist Club members and Optimist Clubs can help the Foundation celebrate their milestone anniversary. Individually, members do two things:

1. Purchase a limited edition 40th Anniversary Pin 
2. Make a dime-a-day and then some donation of $40 

Additionally, the Foundation hopes that Optimist Clubs and Districts will celebrate with a Fabulous at Forty party.  

Each District has been challenged to raise $4,000 with the parties and while the Foundation says that each host or hostess may decide the theme and ticket price of the party, it seems to me that it might be logical to charge at least $40 per ticket. 

Find out how to host your Optimist International Foundation Fabulous at Forty party here.

The Optimist International Foundation serves all Optimist Clubs in the United States, Canada, the Caribbean and other countries. In 1988, the Optimist International Foundation of Canada, now known as the Canadian Children's Optimist Foundation, was established to receive and distribute funds in Canada.