Celebrating 50 Years
First and foremost, it is our 50th Anniversary! Fifty years ago, the Garland E. Ross Recreational Center was founded, as one of three city run recreational centers in Muncie. Our center was the place to be for youth baseball, basketball, family gatherings and more when the factories were thriving. Then, we faced challenging times as the factories closed and the quality of life in our neighborhoods declined.
Thirteen years ago, we reconceptualized what kind of organization we wanted to be for our community and became a nonprofit organization. To inaugurate this new beginning, we changed our name to the Ross Community Center. Then eight years ago, we began the new chapter of our life as a community center, with a new mission to build community as we advance education, health and wellness through our diverse programs, sports, activities, services, and events, to enhance the lives of our community members. So much has happened in these last fifty years!
This year we are celebrating our journey and inaugurating the next chapter of our center. We’d love for you to join us! We have come this far with you, our community, by our side, and we can only continue with you alongside us. Not only are we asking for financial support, but we also ask that you join us for the many events we have throughout the year, register yourself or a family member for some of our programming, or come share your Ross Center memories with us.
In celebration of our 50th year, we are building an oral history of the Ross Center and of our neighbors, those who still live in our neighborhoods and those who moved away. We need community members to come share their rich stories about what it was like growing up here and their memories of coming to the Ross Center!
Reach out to us anytime with anything you would like to share and any ideas you have. We want these celebrations to be collaborative efforts with our community friends. Call us at (765) 747-4741 or email Jacqueline Hanoman at director@rosscentermuncie.org or Christina Dunsmore at coordinator@rosscentermuncie.org.
And lastly, please consider joining us in our $50 for 50 years fundraising initiative. Operating now as a non-profit organization, we can only continue with financial support from community members like you. With $50 for 50 years, you can help us propel our work forward for more people throughout our city!
To make a donation online visit here: https://rosscentermuncie.org/donate/ or you can stop in or mail your donation to 1110 W. 10th Street Muncie, IN 47302. Thank you for your generosity!
