DECEMBER 2001

The Foundation made two payments on pledges during the month,
for a total of $35,000:
Peace College
To support the Sherry W. Worth Leadership Fund.
Capitol Broadcasting Company made a matching gift of $5,000 to the Fund.

5,000
Raleigh City Museum
The third and final payment on a grant of $100,000 to assist the
Museum with its start-up operations.

30,000

Waltye Rasulala, Director of Grants at the A.J. Fletcher Foundation since 1997, retired on December 31, 2001. Waltye has been an important and well-known presence in North Carolina’s nonprofit sector for the past 20 years. "It is an understatement to say that Waltye’s expertise and delightful personality will be missed on a day-to-day basis," said foundation director Tom McGuire.

Waltye began her tenure at Capitol Broadcasting Company and the Fletcher Foundation as Public Affairs Manager at WRAL-TV in June of 1978. (Mr. A. J. Fletcher was the founder of Capitol Broadcasting Company. To this day, the company and the foundation, though separate corporate entities, work closely on community projects). Prior to that, she had had a varied career in music and performance. After graduating with a BA and MM in Voice & Conducting, respectively, from Westminster Choir College in Princeton, NJ, she worked in musical theater, appearing on Broadway and in the national tour of Hello Dolly with Pearl Bailey. She has continued performing in musical and dramatic productions throughout her career in television and philanthropy.

Waltye produced and hosted a public affairs program on KTLA-TV in Los Angeles, as well as public affairs and children's programs at WJLA-TV in Washington, DC, before coming to Raleigh. As Public Affairs Manager at WRAL-TV, she worked as managing producer for Carolina Saturday and Assignment Sunday, two weekly public affairs programs. She also produced and anchored several documentary specials.

Throughout her professional career Waltye has served on the boards of community organizations such as Smart Start, Exploris, Peace College, the North Carolina Center for Public Policy Research and the United Way. She plans to remain in Raleigh and continue to do occasional consulting work for the Fletcher Foundation and other community projects.
A.J. Fletcher Opera Institute Kicks Off First Year

The A.J. Fletcher Opera Institute has announced its inaugural season with seven students. Three students, J. Austin Bitner, David Schmidt and Lucy Tucker Yates, are veterans of the National Opera Company and the Fletcher School of Performing Arts. Eventually, the Institute will enroll a total of twelve Fellows.

During this first fall season, there will be five guest artists on campus to work with Institute students. Among the visiting artists this year will be famed mezzo-soprano Marilyn Horne.

Each month the A.J. Fletcher Foundation issues an internal report on the status of existing grants and the effectiveness of past commitments. These evaluations enable the Board and Staff to assess the Foundation's direction and focus.

We believe that the reports will also serve as useful tools for both the referenced organizations and for other North Carolina funders. Reviewing the methods used to address a particular social issue can help to measure the effectiveness of an organization's planning and potential for long-term stability.

The staff of the A. J. Fletcher Foundation is pleased to publish these reports as another way to serve the nonprofit community in North Carolina.

For information on current funding, Please click here.

Two Foundation grantees reported on their progress this month:

Carolina Center for Hospice and End of Life Care
Summer Strings at Wesleyan

These two organizations represent a total of $123,500
in funding from the foundation; summaries of their reports follow.

The Carolina Center for Hospice and End of Life Care

The Carolina Center for Hospice and End of Life Care received a grant for $120,000, to be paid over three years. The goal of the grant was to increase public awareness and education regarding options for end-of-life care. The organization used Foundation funds to engage the public relations firm of Ruder-Finn to develop a communications plan.

The following goals were achieved as the result of that plan:

  • The Center created the three-part print series Isn’t It Time We Talk to focus consumer attention on end-of life-care issues. Five thousand copies of the series were printed and distributed. Response was positive, and due to high demand, additional copies were printed. The series was distributed to individuals, end-of-life care coalitions, advance planning instructors, hospitals, doctors’ offices and community organizations.
  • The Center developed a website and a quarterly newsletter, enabling itself to distribute public education materials and to generate media attention throughout the state.
  • The Center worked with UNC-TV to re-broadcast On Our Own Time, Bill Moyers’ series on death and dying. As part of this collaboration, the Center was able to distribute flyers and press releases to all affiliates and end-of-life coalitions in the state.
  • The Center’s website was used to distribute medical advisories, outreach suggestions and promotional flyers in conjunction with the broadcast of Emma Thompson’s Wit on the HBO channel.
  • The Center hired a full-time Director of Communications. This new staff member has secured the support of 43 stations across the state to broadcast public service announcements on end-of-life care. The PSA’s successfully referred viewers to the Center’s 800 number and website.

The Center believes that the Fletcher Foundation grant allowed it to meet the three primary objectives of its proposal:

  • To raise awareness and elevate the dialogue on the subject of death and dying,
  • To deepen understanding of death and dying, and
  • To motivate individuals to prepare adequately.

The scope of the Center’s message has widened as a result of the grant, and it has been able to educate North Carolinians about the options for end-of-life care.

For more information on the Carolina Center for Hopsice and End of Life care please go to http://www.carolinasendoflifecare.org

Summer Strings at the Wesleyan

Over the years, this $3,500 grant has become an annual staple for the A.J. Fletcher Foundation. Its purpose is to provide partial scholarships to a summer music camp for talented students with limited income.

Its Director is Dr. Paul Topper, a professor of music at East Carolina. According to Topper, “this year (summer of 2001) was the most successful year in the twenty-nine year history of Summer Strings. A.J. Fletcher scholars were quick learners of the musical tasks placed before them and they presented a beautiful performance. The quality of learning and the outstanding caliber of teachers would not have been possible without the scholarship money the A.J. Fletcher Foundation provided.”

East Carolina University