The Awesome Foundation launches in Asheville

With 78 chapters — now including Asheville — in 16 countries, The Awesome Foundation is “forwarding the interest of awesome in the universe, $1,000 at a time,” according to the organization’s website. Volunteers comprising these geographically dispersed groups donate time and money, pooling funds and awarding $1,000 grants toward hand-selected local initiatives.

Worldwide, nearly 2,000 projects of all types have been funded through the foundation’s platform. The Chicago chapter, for example, supported a solo show at the Museum of Contemporary Art, which aimed to explore the five senses. In Boulder, a project to combat sexual violence received financial assistance. A middle school in Gloucester, Mass., used its $1,000 to launch a composting program.

Xpress recently corresponded with Andrew Celwyn, co-founder of the newly conceived Asheville chapter, to learn how Western North Carolina might become more awesome.

Mountain Xpress: Who started the Asheville chapter and who else is involved in the organization locally?

Andrew Celwyn: The Asheville Chapter was started by [myself] and Randy Guzman. We both saw an article in The New York Times and contacted The Awesome Foundation about founding a chapter here. They put us in touch with each other, and we have both recruited others to get our initial group going. [I own] the local Herbiary shop with [my] wife Maia Toll. Randy works for Buncombe County Health and Human Services. Others in the chapter include Charlie Hodge, owner of Sovereign Remedies, Joe Scully, owner of Chestnut, Vanessa Salomo Scully, Senior Executive at the YMCA of Western North Carolina, Kelly Gloger, energy consultant for Solar Delivered, and Mazzy Orban, owner of mazvirtual.com.

How frequently will grants be awarded?

We will be granting awards at least every other month and hope to give grants out every month when we have a few more members in our chapter.

What constitutes an ‘awesome’ project?

We are intentionally keeping a very loose definition of awesome as we start the chapter. There may be ideas about awesome that we haven’t even considered, so we are casting a wide net. Certainly, anyone or any group that thinks they have a project that would add to the character, cultural or civic life of our area is welcome to apply. We hope to support projects in the arts, technology, community development and a dozen things we haven’t thought of yet. There is so much creativity and civic engagement in the area that we hope to be able to support and foster. A few things that we won’t fund: salaries, travel and religious events (although religious organizations are welcome to apply for projects that support the entire community).

What advantages does this foundation provide over other financial sources, for example, crowdfunding platforms?

As a funding source, The Awesome Foundation has certain advantages. First and foremost, we are local. There’s no competition for funding with someone in Detroit, Dallas, or Durham. You’re just applying with folks in Western North Carolina. Second, we hope to be quick. If we like a project, we can fund it quickly, so it can get off the ground and into the community right away. Third, we are not a charity and don’t have any restrictions on how we grant money. In this era of socially responsible companies and charities set up as LLCs (as Facebook owner Mark Zuckerburg recently created), the line between companies and charities has blurred a bit. That’s some of the area that, perhaps, we’re trying to fill as well.

Does the Asheville chapter have any specific goals?

We would love to be able to look back on our first year and see how a few small grants can go a long way to fostering a better sense of community and making our area more awesome. Whether it’s in Asheville, Hendersonville, Cherokee or somewhere else in this area of the state, we hope that we can encourage artists, entrepreneurs, community organizers and others to dream a little deeper about how to make all of our lives even more awesome.