Stephen Decatur award presented

The Greensburg Adult Center was the site for Decatur County Community Foundation’s 2023-24
Annual Meeting.
Dozens of donors, volunteers, and grant recipients gathered to hear a report on the Foundation’s
2023 activities. Attendees had a chance to hear from two grant recipients, including Monty
Shields of the Adult Center and Jeanne Wiseman from Speranza House. Shields shared how the
Adult Center has benefitted from a floor scrubber and chair racks purchased through a DCCF
grant; Speranza House reported on progress with their capital campaign to purchase a second
home for women in recovery. Speranza is the first organization to receive a newly created capital
campaign grant from DCCF.
The 21st Stephen Decatur Award was presented to Merrill and Linda Smith. Merrill is a member
of the Greensburg Optimist Club, where he currently serves as Lt. Governor for Zone 2. He is a
20+ year member of Greensburg Kiwanis, and is a sponsor of the Aktion Club helping adults
with special needs. He has been an impactful volunteer with Bread of Life, where he started the
Farmers Feeding the Flock program in 2018. That program has received statewide recognition.
Merrill is a past board member of the Greensburg/Decatur County Chamber of Commerce and
introduced the Shopping Scramble event during his tenure. He is an FFA volunteer livestock
coach for Greensburg High School, a Sunday School teacher at First Christian Church, and has
been a parade organizer for both the Tree City Fall Festival and Decatur County Bicentennial. He
is also a past recipient of Greensburg Rotary’s Paul Harris Community Award.
Linda is the STEM Curriculum director for North Decatur Schools where she introduced Camp
Invention and co-organized the NASA program, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for North
Decatur students to talk to an astronaut aboard the International Space Station. She also serves as
Decatur County Community Schools teachers’ union President. For all of these efforts she
received Greensburg Rotary’s Educator of the Year in 2022. Linda serves as deaconess at the
First Christian Church. She’s spent 10 years volunteering for People Assisting Animals in Need,
fostering over 1,000 dogs in Decatur County.
The Smiths are the 21st recipients of the Stephen Decatur Award, which is designed to recognize
volunteerism in the community.
The 2023 annual meeting highlighted the grants, scholarships, memorial gifts and the new Lilly
challenge introduced last year. To receive a hard copy of the 2023 annual report via mail, contact
the DCCF office at 812.662.6364, or info@dccfound.org.