Darke County HOPE Foundation History

History of the HOPE Foundation

With the goal of establishing a community foundation, Dr. Marlin
Thompson started the HOPE Foundation of Darke County in 1985 while
serving as Superintendent of the Darke Co. Office of Education (now
the Darke County Educational Service Center - ESC). He, along with
Bill Dull, CPA and long time HOPE trustee, and Versailles attorney Mike McClurg, incorporated the HOPE Foundation in 1986. The staff at the Office of Education helped name the organization, citing HOPE as Helping Other People Excel. The founders’ plan and the foundation's continuing goal is to improve the quality of life in Darke County by helping donors meet their charitable objectives and assisting nonprofit organizations in providing the services and programs that are so essential to our community.

The first gift came in 1987 from Greenville National Bank. Over the next few years, many gifts followed, large and small, that were designated for scholarships and community grants. Individuals, families, businesses and charitable organizations have contributed to the growth of the HOPE Foundation.

Dr. Thompson said, "I felt there were a lot of good people in Darke County who might want to leave a gift to the community." He met with members of the Van Wert Community Foundation for assistance in getting started and appointed 20 board of trustee members from different areas of Darke County. While Dr. Thompson retired as Superintendent in 1992, he continued to serve as a HOPE trustee and chairperson of the Scholarship Committee until 2005.

In 1999, the HOPE Foundation hired its first director, Diane Kaiser, to oversee the growing organization and help promote the foundation as a county-wide resource for charitable giving. HOPE welcomed Patricia Lavy as the new director (a position now known as president) in 2005. In 2007, the foundation moved into its own office at 201 W. Main St., Greenville, giving the HOPE Foundation more visibility and more accessibility to the community. Christy Prakel became the new president in 2009.