At a time in our not-so-distant past, Leavenworth High School and Milltown High School students sat on opposing sides of the gymnasium. That didn’t stop Mark Mason and Susan Archibald from finding each other. After graduation in the early/mid 70s, each one pursued his/her future with gusto. They became man and wife in 1981 and made their home in Avon, Indiana.
Mark worked for Federal Express for 34 years and Susan worked as an “English as a second language” elementary educator in Indianapolis Public Schools for 29 years. Both remained involved with family and with their perspective High School Alumni Associations. Susan even served on the Community Foundation of Crawford County Board of Directors and currently serves on the Breeden Memorial Library Board of Directors.
Recently, they took advantage of the $2M (match) for $1 (donation) opportunity and created their own named fund, the Mark & Susan Mason Family Fund, an unrestricted fund. This fund honors their parents: Lowell and Maxine Archibald and Sam and Shirley Mason. All but Sam have passed away, but Mark and Susan’s love and respect for their parents never waned. Since there was little more they could do to support their parents in this lifetime, they wanted to establish this fund to serve as a living legacy to their own lifelong marriage and that of their parents. So too, it serves as a testament to their family’s involvement in the community through acts of service and leadership.
Anyone can donate to this fund to honor their parents, Mark and Susan, or just to help the various nonprofits that serve Crawford County residents who apply for grants. Needs change over time. It is impossible to predict the future, so these unrestricted funds allow the CFCC’s Board of Directors to provide funding where it is needed most each year.
To donate to this fund and help all the nonprofits serving Crawford County, give to other funds, establish a fund, or learn more about the Community Foundation of Crawford County, contact Christine Harbeson at 812.365.2900 or email her at charbeson@cf-cc.org. You can also visit the website at https://cf-cc.org or check them out on Facebook @ CFCC4ever.
The Community Foundation of Crawford County was founded in April 1998 by a volunteer Board of Directors that represented a variety of interests in Crawford County. To date, the CFCC has awarded almost $9 million in grants for programs/projects supporting Crawford County children and youth, education, housing, health and human services, the environment, technology advancements, literacy, and the arts, and has awarded more $3 million in scholarships benefiting Crawford County students. The CFCC currently manages more than 75 charitable endowment funds on behalf of families, individuals, corporations and non-profit organizations.