Starkville Oktibbeha Achieving Results (SOAR) will hold a press conference on Tuesday [July 29] at the Hilton Garden Inn beginning at 3:30 p.m. to present its 2014 grants and awards, including a $10,000 grant for Mississippi State Universityâs Rural Schools Initiative.
Donors to SOAR and all charitable entities in Starkville and Oktibbeha County which have been recipients of one or more grants/awards from SOAR since 2005 have been invited to attend to help commemorate and celebrate SOARâs contributing more than $100,000.
SOAR was established in 2002 as an affiliate with CREATE, a 41-year-old public, charitable, community foundation. SOARâs endowment fund is invested and managed by CREATE, but a local board of directors retains control over the money used for grants for projects aimed at benefiting the entire local community.
Current SOAR board members are John Robert Arnold, Larnzy Carpenter, Bobby Crosland, Suzanne Dressel, Dora Herring, Pat Lane, Paul Millsaps, Fenton Peters, Buddy Staggers, Nellah Taylor, Charles Weatherly, Martha Wells, Ross Williams and Marty Wiseman.