The Heritage Club recognizes those donors who have made a planned gift to the YMCA Foundation of Middle Tennessee. The Foundation is honored to have more than 500 individuals who have made the ultimate commitment to the YMCA by including it in their estate plans.
For members of the Heritage Club, a charitable bequest or other estate gift to the YMCA Foundation of Middle Tennessee has been a perfect way to pass on their family's values and ensure the Y will be here to serve other families for many years to come. The lasting impact of estate gifts has helped make the YMCA of Middle Tennessee what it is today.
H.G. Hill Jr. Philantropic AWard
The Foundation invites all Heritage Club members to a very special dinner each year to recognize a deserving donor with the H.G. Hill Jr. Philanthropic Award, the club's highest honor. Generously sponsored by the H.G. Hill Realty Company, the award perpetuates the memory of H.G. Hill Jr. who served as Chairman of the YMCA Board of Directors from 1950-1953 and 1965-1967 and who was an instrumental leader to the YMCA of Middle Tennessee for over fifty years.
2010 H.G. Hill Jr. Philanthropic Award Recipients:
Barry and Homer Gibbs
For more than four decades, Barry and Homer Gibbs have given generously of their time, talent and other resources to support the YMCA and a host of other charitable organizations. The couple's roots in Middle Tennessee run deep, and their generosity has made an indelible impact on the lives of so many people in the community they call home.
A 1950 graduate of Montgomery Bell Academy, Homer, a football standout, went on to attend Vanderbilt University where he worked not only on his studies, but also as the manager of a college band that frequently played high school and college parties. Barry, a member of the Harpeth Hall School's first graduating class, was president of her high school sorority when Homer called on her about hiring his band. A true salesman, Homer not only got the gig for the band, but perhaps more importantly, he also got Barry. Although she initially moved away for college, she soon transferred to Vanderbilt, and in 1956 the couple wed. Homer and Barry briefly lived and worked in Houston before returning to Nashville where Homer joined the Downtown YMCA and began working with Guaranty Mortgage, where eventually starting its commercial division.
Homer and his father later founded Gibbs & Company, a Nashville-based mortgage banking company. The business grew, as did Homer and Barry's family. Now grown, children Boyd, Becky and Louisa were all on hand as their parents accepted the H.G. Hill Jr. Philanthropic Award last year.
Giving back to make a difference in the lives of others has been a lifelong commitment for the Gibbs. Homer has served as a volunteer leader for numerous civic organizations, including the Exchange Club, Chamber of Commerce, American Institute of Appraisers and the Nashville Board of Realtors. He was among the first members of the YMCA of Middle Tennessee Foundation Board, which he would later chair, and in 1974 also served as the Nashville YMCA's association board chair.
Homer is a past recipient of the Y's highest volunteer honor, the Order of the Red Triangle, and of the Foundation's Heritage Club Founders Award. Homer and Barry continue to support the mission of the YMCA and are avid supporters of Cheekwood Botanical Gardens, Montgomery Bell Academy and First Presbyterian Church. Barry, the first of three generations of Gibbs ladies to attend the Harpeth Hall School, continues to provide volunteer leadership and support to Harpeth Hall, Fannie Battle, the Salvation Army, the Hermitage Ladies Association and the Centennial Club.
The YMCA of Middle Tennessee is proud to honor a couple whose legacy will live on in our community for generations to come.
Previous H.G. Hill Jr. Philanthropic Award Recipients
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2009 Mary and Lee Barfield |
2001 Florence and Buzz Davis |
