Marietta Schools Foundation - Matchers Club

History of the Matchers Club

Over the years, the Marietta Schools Foundation has been very fortunate to have a wide base of community support. This support even comes from those that did not attend school in Marietta. In 1994, Chairman of the Marietta Board of Education, Dr. Phil Gingery, approached H. Neil Barfield, Director of the Marietta Schools Foundation, and expressed the desire to donate his Board of Education salary to the Marietta Schools Foundation. This overt offer of support was the catalyst for the Matchers Club. Mr. Barfield then devised a plan to reach out to those that did not attend Marietta City Schools, but still held an interest in promoting excellence in the Marietta system.

In August of 1994, the Matchers Club was created. Donations were solicited from community members who did not attend Marietta High School but did have an interest in Marietta High School. These donations were “matched” dollar for dollar by Dr. Gingery up to a total of $5,000. In 1994 and 1995, the Matchers Club donated $20,000 to the Foundation.

In 1996, Charter Bank replaced Dr. Gingery as the provider of matching funds and the philosophy of Corporate Sponsorship of the Matchers Club began. There are seven corporate sponsors today. In an effort to give this group some identity and organization, Judy Harper agreed to serve as Liaison from the Foundation to the Matchers Club, and Ed Milligan agreed to Chair the Matchers Club Steering Committee. The Matchers Club Steering Committee decided that earnings from the Matchers Club Endowment should be paid out as Administrative Bonuses. The first Administrative Bonus was awarded in 1996, in the amount of $1,000, and a total of $38,000 has been paid to approximately sixty recipients through 2003.

Individual contributors and corporate sponsors began to grow and annual contributions reached a high of over $28,000 in 1999. The Matchers Club Endowment now exceeds $225,000.