News Article

9/27/2011 :: Johan T. Newcombe Honored with Sims Award
Thursday evening the Community Foundation of Gaston County hosted the annual Allen H. Sims Dinner to celebrate philanthropy in Gaston County. This year marks the twenty second annual dinner in honor of Mr. and Mrs. Sims. Each year the Board selects a recipient for the Allen Sims Award to someone reflecting the following philosophy: “The selfless act of seeing a need and finding a solution, of caring for a community and making a difference.” Johan T. Newcombe was honored with the Sims Award.

The Sims Dinner also serves as the annual meeting for donors of the Community Foundation of Gaston County. Alex Hall is the current President of the Board of Directors and gave a brief but informative review of the 2010 activities and results.

Mr. Hall reported the Foundation is operating with a balanced budget with revenues covering expenses and has one of the lowest expense ratios in our industry. Total assets as of July 31, 2011 were $55,893,051.00 and the investment performance for the year ending 2010 was 11.46%.

Total grants from the Foundation during 2010 were $3,262,220 bringing the total since inception to $63,633,909! Foundation donors have really made and continue to make a difference for mankind.

In addition to grants going out of the Foundation, gifts coming into the Foundation increased in 2010 from the prior year by 42%, and in fact the gifts for this year are up by 77% through July.

2010 was a busy year for the Foundation. To review several highlights, grants from unrestricted funds in 2010 exceeded $500,000 for our community competitive grant cycle. The three year commitment to “Career Climb”, a joint effort with two other foundations to develop a job ready workforce here in Gaston County was continued. Indicators from three years of operation show strong evidence of success.

“RUN FOR THE MONEY 9” again was a tremendous success for our community raising over $1.25 million dollars for 119 non-profits. Over the life of the “RUN” the foundation has leveraged $2 million dollars in matching funds to raise over $10 million dollars for our community.

Another project started by the Foundation 5 years ago, “Teens Changing Gaston County” was presented at 2011 National conference of YMCA philanthropy. As a result of this presentation “Y”s cross the country and internationally are adopting this program of youth and philanthropy.

The Roberts-Miller Children’s Fund assisted 10 individual children during 2010. This fund is dedicated to aiding those youth without funds or medical insurance to pay for necessary medical equipment. Clearly a difference maker for those in need.

The Community Foundation also administers 18 scholarship funds whose donors provided college educational assistance to 58 students during 2010.

Again, these are only a few highlights and the Foundation has a wide variety of opportunities to assist in creative ways to exercise charitable intents.

At the conclusion of Mr. Hall’s report a video was viewed educating those attending on the person Allen H. Sims was, which explains why the dinner and award are named in his honor. Tete Pearson, friend and mentee of Mr. Sims along with David Allen Smith relayed to the audience a vivid description of Allen Sims and his wife Anne Rankin Sims.

The program then moved to the presentation of the Sims Award. Mr. Gene Matthews has known the recipient for most of his life and delighted the audience with his perspective and life experiences concerning Johan Newcombe, a family friend and frequent co-board member on many significant nonprofit endeavors. A second video, featuring her many contributions to our community, was shown featuring Johan T. Newcombe. Mary Harris, Executive Director of Habitat, and Duke Kimbrell, Parkdale Mills contributed their perspectives in the making of the video.

Johan T. Newcombe’s story is a tale of courage, commitment and philanthropy. Born in Charlotte, NC, Johan attended local schools before heading off to Chatham Hall in Chatham, VA and later to Vassar College. Before finishing at Vassar, Johan transferred to UNC at Chapel Hill to be with her husband, Artie whom she married in 1954.
The Newcombes were blessed with four children: Mary, Frances, Johan and Artie. In the early years in Charlotte, Johan was active in her community and first began what would become a life-long habit of giving back to her community. In 1969, Dr. Jonnie H. McLeod began Open House, a drop-in counseling center located in the basement of a local YMCA. Johan was a key fundraiser for Open House which is now known as McLeod Addictive Disease Center.

In 1968, the Newcombe Family began its migration to Gastonia, when Artie Newcombe accepted a position with Parkdale Mills. After spending their entire lives in Charlotte, in 1979, after the four children had all gone off to school, the Newcombe family relocated from Charlotte to Gastonia. Looking back on the decision to move to Gaston County, Johan reflects on her feelings of being committed to the community in which one lives. She did not want to have one foot in one county and the other foot in another. The move for Johan signified a huge lifetime transition. She felt liberated and free to become her own person in her own new space. Taking advantage of an opportunity is what Johan chose to do. In 1982, Johan began working in real estate with Cas Taylor and Manfred Johnston, where she would later obtain office space for Habitat for Humanity.

Becky Carter, the Executive Director of the Community Foundation of Gaston County, approached Johan about a new and exciting venture called Habitat for Humanity. With Becky’s urging Johan was persuaded to become the first volunteer president and executive director for Habitat in Gaston County in 1989. Johan laughing tells about being told it was an unpaid position and to bring her own typewriter. None the less, she was able to organize the construction of the first Habitat houses and was the major architect of the program in Gastonia. She credits Becky Carter as a driving force that taught her everything she needed to know and for leading the Community Foundation to provide the primary funding to get Habitat started in Gaston County.

Being familiar with the Community Foundation, Johan was herself a donor. She smiles when remembering the difference of opinions she and her husband had over end points for grant recommendations, always settled to the agreement of both parties. In 1995, after Arite’s death, Johan joined the Board of Directors of the Community Foundation and later served as President in 1998. Johan’s thirst for knowledge concerning what was going on in her community of Gaston County is the primary reason for her Foundation involvement. Her tenure on the Board is highlighted by her involvement with Linda Slade in creating the Run for the Money campaign and the organization of the Next Generation Fund.

Initially representing the Community Foundation, Johan now serves as the community at large representative on the Board of the David Belk Cannon Foundation. Johan also served as a Board member for First Community Bank- Centura. In 2007, Johan received the Spirit of Freedom Award from the Gaston Gazette. She is a Rotary International Paul Harris recipient and has served the Junior League. She is a member of All Saints Episcopal Church, Gastonia.
Artie Newcombe, Johan’s youngest child and only son says of his mother: “I think my mother’s crowning achievement is to have raised four highly successful children with very different interests and chosen life paths, yet they each are deeply involved in charity and giving back to community. This is being passed on to the next generations.”

Johan Newcombe truly exemplifies the Sims Award philosophy.


The evening concluded with congratulations to Johan Newcombe. Alex Hall challenged those in attendance to continue to strive to make a difference in Gaston County.

Anyone interested in learning more about the Community Foundation of Gaston County or how to become involved in making our community stronger by enhancing the present and future lives of others is encouraged to contact the Foundation office located at 1201 E. Garrison Blvd, Gastonia, NC 28054 or call 704 864 0927.

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