By JULIE CARLE
BG Independent News
The Friends of the Wood County Parks is taking a big leap in its fundraising efforts.
The nonprofit group that supports the Wood County Park District was established in 1989 to help with the district’s levy efforts. Funds have been raised through memberships and fundraisers, such as the native plant sales twice a year.
The Friends group created a Wood County Parks Foundation committee “for the purpose of expanding our fundraising,” Jim Mathews, acting president of the Friends of the Wood County Parks, announced at Tuesday’s board meeting.
Chris and Terry Rehard of Perrysburg are chairs of the new committee that is tasked with broadening the fundraising efforts for the parks.
The Parks Foundation is collaborating with the Greater Toledo Community Foundation to manage donations made through the parks’ foundation.
“We’ve only been doing this for three weeks, but we’ve already done a lot,” Chris Rehard said. “We’ve met with different people from foundations and picked everybody’s brains” for moving this initiative forward.
The foundation’s current focus is to help raise funds for The Chessie Circle Trail, a proposed 11-mile trail that will connect Rossford to northern Toledo on the footprint of the historic Toledo railroad line. The Wood County Park District’s project is from River Road southeast along Ford Road to White Road, and from White Road along the backside of the W.W. Knight Nature Preserve to Bates Road.
One of the first major fundraising campaigns for the new parks foundation is Giving Tuesday, Chris said. “We’re really excited for it, but I’m also terrified since it is the first time the Friends have done Giving Tuesday.”
They are working with Taylor Greenwood of the Toledo Community Foundation, who recommended they set a goal to raise $10,000 on Giving Tuesday. She is guiding them on a plan to include writing letters, first, to introduce the foundation and, second, to announce Giving Tuesday plans.
Donations made on Giving Tuesday can be designated to the Friends group or to the Chessie Circle Trail campaign. If the Chessie trail is designated during Giving Tuesday, the gift will be doubled thanks to a challenge grant from the Anderson Fund, which is one of the Toledo Community Foundation’s funds. The park district hopes to raise $25,000 for the Chessie Circle Trail by the end of the calendar year in order to receive the $25,000 challenge grant from the Andersons Fund. The deadline to raise the $25,000 is Dec.17, 2025.
The Rehards have already met with the park district’s marketing team to coordinate efforts for the website, communications and social media. There will be a link and QR code that will be easily seen on the website, social media, and in letters that are mailed and emailed.
“We will also include an address because some people prefer to just write a check,” she said. As co-chair of the committee, Chris said she plans to send thank-you cards to everyone who donates.
They have their goal for the end of the year fundraising, but the committee also has some ideas for additional events for next spring and fall.
“They are dynamite chairs for the committee,” Mathews said. “They have a bundle of energy, which is what we need” to move the organization forward. He urged the board of commissioners and other supporters of the parks to share the information with others “to make the appeal much broader.”
He said they will also look for additional year-end giving opportunities. “We want to let people know that they can give through the foundation in different ways,” Mathews said. “They can give through distributions of their 401-Ks, make a gift as part of an estate plan, donate in-kind gifts like cars and boats. And all of this will be run through the Toledo Community Foundation.”
