Borrowed Hearts receives $42K from Dart Foundation

Amanda Van Bussum, founder and president of Borrowed Hearts Owensboro, center, claps as she speaks during a ceremony announcing a $42,000 grant from the Dart Foundation on Wednesday, as Jennifer Southard, human resources manager of Dart Container’s Owensboro plant, left, looks on.

The Dart Foundation — the philanthropic arm of the beverage and food packaging company Dart Container Corporation — awarded local nonprofit Borrowed Hearts Owensboro a $42,000 grant during a presentation Wednesday at Dart Container’s Owensboro plant.

The private foundation, established in 1984 by William A. and Claire T. Dart, has granted $90 million to a variety of causes that “foster change at the local level,” according to the foundation’s website.

It’s now spanned three generations of the Dart family serving on the foundation’s board, helping support organizations and projects that look to improve the quality of life in the communities that Dart Container serves through healthcare, youth and family services, food insecurity and shelter and security.

According to Jennifer Southard, human resources manager at Dart Container’s Owensboro plant, the foundation “specifically donates to areas where our facilities are located to try to make an impact in the communities where our employees live.

“We allowed all of our employees to make nominations of organizations that they would like to see receive the grant (as long as) it was within the local community,” Southard said.

After sending the nominations to Dart’s corporate office in Michigan, Southard said the top three organizations nominated were then voted on by employees.

Since Borrowed Hearts opened in December 2019, the nonprofit has focused on helping children and families in the foster care system by providing clothing, hygiene products, toys and support, along with resources and raising awareness about those the organization serves.

“My husband and I have been foster parents off-and-on for (almost) a decade. We’ve adopted five children from foster care; and when we took in numbers four and five, we kind of knew that our roles as foster parents were going to change because we couldn’t just keep taking more and more children,” said Amanda Van Bussum, founder and president of the organization, “but I was still so passionate about foster care that I wanted to find some way to stay connected and to still help ….”

Van Bussum and Hilary Patterson, vice president of Borrowed Hearts, were appreciative of being selected for the funding.

“I think it still kind of feels surreal,” Van Bussum said. “This level of a grant is not something at all that we’re used to receiving.

“It’s just such a gift to us and really allowed us to start being able to dream, and those kinds of projects that we’ve put on a shelf and been like ‘someday when;’ … now we can think about the someday because it’s now.”

“We’re just grateful,” Patterson said. “We’re excited to be able to provide for kids in care in this way.”

Van Bussum said the grant will be used for two Borrowed Heart initiatives — “Walking in Confidence” and the tentatively-titled “We’ve Got Your Back.”

“Walking in Confidence” will focus on getting children new shoes, with plans to give two pairs of shoes throughout the year.

“They’re going to be able to come and meet with one of the board members … at a store where they’ll get to choose their shoes,” Van Bussum said. “... Getting brand new shoes, with tags, in a box of their choosing — I just think that’s going to be really special.”

“We’ve Got Your Back” will continue the organization’s efforts of supplying hygiene supplies while giving children a more permanent storage space.

“We already give hygiene bags to children as they come into care, but now we’re going to get Under Armour, Vera Bradley and Pottery Barn duffle bags (prepared with supplies) …,” Van Bussum said. “It’ll be a bag that they can use (that) they can take with them as they maybe return home, or go on to a different placement ….”

“... When a family gets a new placement, it’s basically a given that they’re going to have to go to the store to get those essentials. That’s why we try to have that available for them ….”

On average, Borrowed Hearts serves approximately 30 children in foster care per month.

“Our goal is all about the children,” Van Bussum said.

For more information on the organization or if interested in donating, visit borrowedheartsobky.org or facebook.com/borrowedheartsowensboro.

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