Business Leaders Prioritize Giving Back to the Community
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For Muskogee’s business leaders, commerce isn’t just about cash – it’s about community, too.
“Our local businesses are always very generous. They give back in so many ways,” says Marie Seabolt, director of marketing and research for Muskogee Development.
One philanthropist is the late Robert Yaffe, who created a $1 million endowment for Muskogee’s Spaulding Park. The park is located near Yaffe’s childhood home and his metal-recycling business, Yaffe Companies.
“For a community and park this size, a million-dollar gift was unprecedented,” says Mark Wilkerson, Muskogee’s director of parks and recreation.
Muskogee has put that gift to good use for a variety of projects – tennis court renovations, new playgrounds and a new walking trail, to name a few. Going forward, the city plans to improve the park’s pool and add amenities for senior citizens.
The centerpiece of the improved Spaulding Park is a nine-foot bronze commissioned by Yaffe’s wife Donna. Titled Past and Present, Future Bound, the statue was created by Tulsa artist Denise Rinkovsky and installed in spring 2008.
“Mr. Yaffe’s past in this park and this neighborhood gave a gift in the present day that will continue into the future,” Wilkerson says. “It’s a perfect tribute to him and what he did.”
Nor is Yaffe the only philanthropist with Muskogee roots. Founded in 1908, the city’s Griffin Food Company is Oklahoma’s oldest food manufacturer and a charter member of the Made in Oklahoma Coalition, or MIO.
“MIO is an excellent program,” says Griffin Holdings President John Griffin. “Not only does it inform the public about MIO companies, but the MIO companies also donate back to the state food banks.”
Since 2003, Griffin Foods has donated more than 500 cases of food to MIO’s annual food drive for the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma. The company also routinely donates to other non-profit food banks and local pancake-breakfast fundraisers.
In John Griffin’s opinion, his company is just returning a favor.
“The community serves us by providing employees and utilities,” he says, “so we give back to the community, just as my grandfather did when he started the business.”
Philanthropy is also a long-standing tradition for Georgia-Pacific, whose Muskogee mill makes recycled-paper products.
“It’s always been our company’s philosophy that we need to play a major role in giving back to the community through contributions as well as employee involvement,” says Gill Luton, the mill’s manager of public affairs.
Accordingly, the mill holds an annual fundraising drive to benefit Lake Area United Way. The 2007 campaign raised $137,000, making Georgia-Pacific the chapter’s largest contributor for the year.
Georgia-Pacific also donated $50,000 to the new Muskogee Swim and Fitness Center and gives $5,000 in annual scholarships to nearby Northeastern State University.
“We feel like it’s our responsibility to see that Muskogee will be a place where employees can really be proud of the community,” Luton says.
And that, according to Seabolt, is exactly what Muskogee’s corporate benefactors have accomplished.
“Their giving back to the community gives us great quality of life,” she says.
Story by Kathryn Royster
Photo by Ian Curcio
