Local nonprofit leader wins Marion Women's Club 2023 Ida Barlow Brilliance Award
Empowering women in the community is a goal shared by the Marion Women’s Club and Jenni Hypes, executive director of Marion’s Aspire Ministries nonprofit organization, who recently was named the winner of the Club’s 2023 Ida Barlow Brilliance Award.
Hypes’ program, titled “Strong Women – Stronger Marion: Enrichment Day 2024,” will provide opportunities for exploring new skills and making connections with others in the community.
“My vision for the program is that it will allow participants to unlock new avenues of potential and lead to strong women, and a stronger Marion,” said Hypes, whose organization was formerly named Love INC.
All women, including teens and students, will be encouraged to attend the free program featuring professional and life skills, and leisure activities. The date is being finalized for later in 2024.
Hypes said the $1,000 award will be used to sponsor an event that will bring women together across multiple generations to learn from experts and one another and to build new relationships to strengthen the community.
The Ida Barlow Brilliance Award was created in 2020 by the Marion Women’s Club to honor early club member and benefactor Ida Barlow, who along with her husband, Shauck, built the Women’s Club home and subsequently bequeathed it to the club upon their death in 1945.
The endowed fund is housed and managed at Marion Community Foundation. The award is intended to recognize a woman entrepreneur or nonprofit leader to support an innovative program or service that not only benefits the community but also complements the Women’s Club mission of empowering women and enriching the community.
Founded in 1991 as Love INC and relaunched in 2023, Aspire Ministries is a network of partner churches in Marion County whose mission is to “engage and help our neighbors in need.” Its goal is to see the faith community working together in unity, committed to helping individuals and families in need grow toward self-sufficiency and transformation.
“We realize that individual churches cannot fully meet the needs of every person asking for help,” Hypes said. “It takes a faith community working together across denominational lines to meet our multi-faceted needs.”
Barb Pine, owner of Marion’s Jer-Zee Drive In, was the first recipient of the Barlow Brilliance Award in 2022 to support the dairy bar’s Story Time program designed to enhance children’s literacy rates.
Applications for the 2024 award will be available Sept. 1, with a deadline of Oct. 31. To apply or donate to the award fund, visit MarionCountyFederationOfWomensClubs.com or call the Marion Women’s Club at 740-387-1366.
This article originally appeared on Marion Star: Aspire Ministries' Jenni Hypes wins Marion Women's Club award