Galveston — The Cass County Community Foundation gave away more than 1,000 free tickets for locals to dine at the fourth annual Galveston Labor Day Festival Monday.

“At the Cass County Community Foundation, we are always in favor of win-win situations,” said foundation representative Deanna Crispen.

For the community of Galveston, the winnings were vast. The festival, located at Galveston City Park, included a free hog roast with trimmings, live local music, the Logansport Fire Department Fire Safety house, free blood pressure checks, McGruff the Crime Dog, face painting and a line dancing lesson. The event, funded by the Lilly Endowment Fund, took place from 1 p.m. until 8 p.m.

“This gives people a chance to come out and enjoy fellowship and great local music, and cost is not an issue” Crispen said. “It provides a safe area with lots of things to do for people to come spend time with their families.”

Crispen said the turnout at this year’s event had increased from 2008 by approximately 300 people.

State Sen. Randy Head, a member of the community foundation’s board, also highlighted the importance of providing free community events.

“Once the economy tanked, this event became even more important,” Head said. “We want people to know the extent of the funds that are available to the community.”

Informing the public of the foundation, Crispen explained, was the reason the festival was initially created.

“Part of the stipulations of the Lilly Endowment was to get out more and be more visible to the community,” she said.

Crispen said the foundation began reaching out to different parts of the county through Concert in the Park in Royal Center and the Labor Day Festival in both Galveston and Walton four years ago.

“As an organization we wanted to get out and tell more people about the work we do,” Crispen said.

Head agreed that the event served dual purposes: to provide a community event for Galveston and to give the locals that attend a better understanding of the Cass County Community Foundation.

“We felt we weren’t reaching out to everyone in Cass County,” Head said. “This is a way for us to advertise.”

Crispen explained she believes the events have had a direct influence on grants that have been awarded to communities throughout the county that previously were not seeking out the community foundation as a resource.

For example, following the 2007 Labor Day Festival, the Youth League in the southeastern region of Cass County applied for grant money for the first time. The Walton youth baseball organization was awarded $10,000 from 2008 grant money to bring its facilities in line with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The Cass County Community Foundation funds local organizations and projects through approximately 170 different funds.

“The foundation is a way for the local community to capture assets for the next generation,” Crispen said.

She explained the money used to fund local projects is a never-spend gift. The foundation uses the income earned from endowment investments to fund the community groups.

“We are like the community’s savings account,” Crispen said. “We help people accomplish those big projects, their dreams.”

Head explained the southeastern portion of the county would benefit from Monday’s event through a fund set up specifically for Galveston.

“Today we are matching every dollar up to $5,000 that is raised for the Galveston Town Fund,” Head said.

The state senator said the foundation plans to create a steering committee that will influence which projects receive money to benefit the town of Galveston.

The Cass County Community Foundation was not the only organization contributing to the event. Local churches provided dessert for the meal, local banks provided paper products such as plates and napkins, the Zip Thru donated chips and Pepsi provided free soda. The Lewis Cass cheerleading squad served food and the football team helped clean up after the event.

“We were able to give the cheerleaders and football players a donation in exchange for their help,” Crispen said. “It is good to get all of these people from the community involved, working on something fun and good for the community.”

Jan Robertson, president of the Galveston Heritage Society, recognized the Labor Day event as a chance for community involvement. Robertson, and the other 10 members of the society, volunteered their time Monday to paint faces and host a coloring contest.

“It’s all about the community,” Robertson said. “And we want our town to be a fun place to live. We wanted to give kids a way to get involved and we wanted to let the community know who we are.”

• Jennifer Tangeman is a reporter for the Pharos-Tribune. She can be reached at (574) 732-5148 or jennifer.tangeman@pharostribune.com.