The Columbus Foundation announced its grantmaking totals for 2024 and the 2025 honorees of The Harrison M. Sayre Award and The Columbus Foundation Award during the organization’s annual Celebration of Philanthropy event.

The Columbus Foundation has announced that Cheryl Graffagnino, an experienced nonprofit and public sector professional with extensive expertise in community health systems and grantmaking strategies, has joined the organization as the Director of Community Health Grantmaking.

To provide scholarship awards to deserving students who are members of the Theta Delta Chapter of the Beta Theta Pi Fraternity at The Ohio State University.

The scholarship was established by Mildred Griffith in memory of her sister Genevieve Griffith, the girls' principal at Central High School in Ohio for many years. To be eligible, students must reside in the area served by Central High School when it closed in 1982, with Briggs, East, and South high schools each awarding one scholarship.

This scholarship was established to benefit graduating seniors of Upper Arlington High School who are members of the varsity or junior varsity Ice Hockey team.

The fund was established in memory of Margaret Ford and Lloyd K. Smucker by their son, John L. Smucker. Margaret and Lloyd Smucker lived most of their adult lives in Medina County, and Margaret Smucker taught in the Medina County public schools for many of those years. This fund provides scholarships annually to assist economically disadvantaged graduates of high schools in Medina County, Ohio to continue their education through college.

The James T. and Lucille C. Shidecker Fund was established in memory of Mr. Shidecker's mother, Sarah Belle Fridelle Shidecker, and Mrs. Shidecker's mother, Lewella Fletcher Church. A self-employed engineer, Mr. Shidecker was a graduate of The Ohio State University, where he received a bachelor's degree in civil engineering in 1923. The fund equally supports scholarships for graduates of the Danville Public School System in Knox County and Big Walnut Public School System in Delaware County. Both Mr. and Mrs. Shidecker are deceased.

Dorothy Wirth Holden was a graduate of the University of Montana and member of Kappa Kappa Gamma Sorority. She was a social activist, strong proponent of women obtaining a college degree, and mother of seven. Examples of her many achievements include roles as the chairperson of the Social Action Committee of the National Council of Catholic Women and State Democratic Committee Representative from Franklin County. She was the first woman from Franklin County to be a member of the electoral college, worked to promote racial equality before it became the law, and with her husband John, founded the Bexley Democratic Club in 1961. In 1967, Dorothy was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis and passed away.

The scholarship was established in 1995 by the board of the North American Ice Cream Association, honoring a man whose fifty-plus year commitment to the ice cream and frozen dessert industry is unparalleled.

The purpose of the fund is to provide scholarship awards to deserving high school students who plan to attend an accredited college or university and undertake studies in marketing, communications, journalism, or advertising.