OF FRIENDSTHE SMOKIES Donor2016 Salute About Us Board of Directors BOARD MEMBERS HONORARY BOARD MEMBERS Nancy Daves, Secretary Sandy Beall Cindi DeBusk Mimi Cecil Julie Elliott Kay Clayton Luke Hyde, Treasurer Vicky Fulmer Dale Keasling, Vice Chair Bruce Hartmann Dr. Daniel P. Matthews, Chair John Mason Jake Ogle Diane Matthews Chase Pickering Jim Ogle Meridith Elliott Powell Linda Ogle Sharon Miller Pryse Jack Williams, Board Advisor Heath Shuler Wyatt Stevens EMERITUS BOARD MEMBERS Honorable Gary Wade, Emeritus Chair John Dickson Laura Webb Natalie Haslam Mark Williams Mary Johnson Judy Morton John B. Waters, Jr. David White Stephen W. Woody Friends Staff Jim Hart ..........................................President Holly Jones .............. Director of Community Nan Jones .................Chief Financial Officer Outreach & Strategy Sarah Weeks ......... Director of Development Kenna McCully .........Office/Special Projects Coordinator Lauren Gass ..........Special Projects Director Anna Zanetti ......... North Carolina Director Brent McDaniel ............. Marketing Director Marielle DeJong ...................North Carolina Outreach & Development Associate Office Information Tennessee/Main Office North Carolina Office Jim Hart, President Anna Zanetti, North Carolina Director 3099 Winfield Dunn Parkway, Suite 2 160 South Main Street PO Box 1660 Waynesville, NC 28786 Kodak, TN 37764 Phone: (828) 452-0720 Phone: (865) 932-4794 or E-mail: [email protected] 1-800-845-5665 E-mail: [email protected] Mission Statement The mission of Friends of Great Smoky Mountains National Park is to assist the National Park Service in its mission to preserve and protect Great Smoky Mountains National Park by raising funds and awareness and providing volunteers for needed projects. www.FriendsOfTheSmokies.org 2 LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT Thanks to your support, Friends of the Smokies has fulfilled its fundraising mission for the park every year since it was founded in 1993. That means that every item on the park’s annual needs list has been funded for the last twenty-two years. The year-long Centennial celebration of the National Park Service made the Smokies “top of mind” for people all across the country; this was reflected in the record-breaking 11+ million visitors to our national park. In 2016 we provided $1.5 million for park needs which included both annual support and matching gifts for the Kathryn McNeil Education Endowment Fund to hire a full- time teacher for the Appalachian Highlands Science Learning Center at Purchase Knob. Other highlights include $254,100 Trails Forever funding to complete the Alum Cave Trail improvements, $161,568 for Parks as Classrooms, and $111,700 in resource management and science projects including the Collections Preservation Center, wildlife management, and hemlock protection. With your help, our park is a more welcoming place, and is better equipped to tell the natural and cultural resource stories that make it one of America’s great natural treasures. With the National Park Service celebration of its 100th anniversary in 2016 creating a unique opportunity for a strong fundraising year, Friends was headed for a great finish as the fourth quarter began - at that point none of us could have imagined the magnitude of the tragic events that would occur on November 28th. Even today it is difficult to comprehend the scope of the wildfire that ravaged the area. But as so often happens in our country there has been an inspiring counter- point to the devastation and that is the response of thousands of caring and generous people who want to help the park recover from the damages it has experienced. Friends of the Smokies has already received or has commitments for more than $710,000 in support of fire relief within the park boundaries. On behalf of the Board of Directors and staff of Friends of the Smokies, I want to thank you for your remarkable support for Great Smoky Mountains National Park and your commitment to its preservation and protection. In addition to your generosity, we appreciate your calls of concern, and your words of support both in writing, via email, and online through your social media posts and comments. Perhaps more than ever before, 2016 showed us how many Friends of the Smokies our park has, from across the country and around the world. 3 LETTER FROM SUPERINTENDENT CASSIUS CASH Dear Friends, In 2016, we asked you to join us on a journey to commemorate the 100th Anniversary of the National Park Service by spending time in your parks. And you did! We had a record 11.3 million visitors to Great Smoky Mountains National Park. We also asked people to discover the backcountry by hiking 100 miles in honor of the NPS Centennial. I was amazed that over 2,000 people met or exceeded the challenge! My personal journey in hiking 100 miles was truly one of the most rewarding experiences I’ve ever accomplished. I had the opportunity to not only hike in these magnificent mountains, but I got to take over 180 youth along with me and introduce some to hiking for the very first time. We tried to connect with people in neighboring communities and in unique ways such as art, music, and dance. We had the opportunity to create an immersive art experience at the gateway hub for air travel at McGhee-Tyson Airport to introduce travelers to the amazing National Park units within a couple hours drive of the airport. In 2016, we also poured resources back into the park by completing a couple of flagship projects that allow longterm care of our natural and cultural resources. We completed the construction of the $4.2 million Collections Preservation Center made possible through a significant partnership contribution of $1.9 million by Friends of the Smokies and Great Smoky Mountains Association. This center provides space that now enables us to collectively care for over 418,000 artifacts and 1.3 million archival records from five parks. We can now better protect the current park collection and also inspire descendants of park inhabitants to entrust us to care for handed-down artifacts to help complete our shared history. We also had the opportunity to better preserve park natural resources through the legacy work of the Trails Forever project on Alum Cave Trail. This remarkable trail restoration actively engaged volunteers and youth interns, while also creating a sustainable, durable trail surface leading to one of the park’s most iconic locations at Mt. Le Conte. We are grateful for the investment of time that people shared with the park in 2016. When we experienced the fire storm on November 28, our supporters came to our aid in a remarkable manner through their kind words and donations. We simply cannot operate the park without your support and we thank you for your ongoing stewardship. Thank you, Cassius M. Cash 4 BOARD PERSPECTIVE Do you ever think about what East Tennessee or Western North Carolina would look like without Great Smoky Mountains National Park? I do, every time I hike a trail, enjoy a view, I think about how much I owe to the men and women who had the presence-of-mind and vision to create this park. I am so grateful for how hard they worked, giving their time, money and precious resources to ensure the Smokies would be protected and preserved. Protected and preserved all so we could enjoy the same beauty as they did. I believe we owe them a huge debt of gratitude, and it is a debt we need to repay. Pay it just as they did, giving our time, our money and our precious resources to ensure that future generations can enjoy this park in the same way. Our ancestors protected this park in hopes that we would pick up the torch and ensure the these trails would be hiked, these homesteads would be visited and these views would be enjoyed for generations to come. – Meridith Elliott Powell, Asheville, Friends of the Smokies Board of Directors Voted one of the Top 15 Business Growth Experts to watch by Currency Fair, Meridith Elliott Powell is an award-winning author, keynote speaker and business strategist. With a background in corporate sales and leadership, her career expands over several industries including banking, healthcare, and finance. Meridith worked her way up from an entry-level position to earn her seat at the C-Suite table. Meridith is a Certified Speaking Professional©, a designation held by less than twelve percent of professional speakers, and a member of the prestigious Forbes Coaching Council. Friends of the Smokies Board Member Meridith Elliott Powell with her husband Dr. Rob Powell 5 HIGHLIGHTS & MILESTONES Since 1993, Friends of the Smokies has raised more than $57 million to help Great Smoky Mountains National Park. We have 6,000+ donors, the support of thousands of Park visitors who give to our donation boxes throughout the Park, plus Friends of the Smokies specialty license plate owners in Tennessee and North Carolina (which have generated a combined $13.5 million since 1997). WHATEVER YOU LOVE ABOUT THE SMOKIES, FRIENDS MAKES A DIFFERENCE! 2016 - Raised $500,000 for emergency fire relief efforts after Chimney Tops 2 fire; established the $1.2 million Kathryn McNeil Educational Endowment; successfully competed for a $250,000 grant to restore the Clingmans Dome tower. Trails Forever crew completed the two-year overhaul of Alum Cave Trail. 2015 - Alum Cave Trail restoration began (Trails Forever Project) 2014 - Completed the three-year rehabilitation of Chimney Tops Trail (Trails Forever Project) 2013 - Contributed $100,000 towards the renovation of Sugarlands Visitor Center lobby and museum. 2012 - Established $5 million Trails Forever endowment; first total trail reconstruction completed on Forney Ridge Trail. 2011 - Proudly furnished $500,000 of interpretive exhibits for the new Oconaluftee Visitors Center. 2010 - Purchased 20 acres of land for $782,000 along Soak Ash Creek in Pittman Center, TN for the Park to conserve critical wetland habitat for wildlife.