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The Polk County Community Foundation announced today the appointment of Sara Bell as the  organization’s President and Chief Executive Officer effective 15 November. Tom Jackson, the Chair of the Foundation’s Board of Directors said: “We are thrilled to have Sara building on the strong history of the Foundation and leading us into the future. With her impressive entrepreneurial background and deep commitment to both Polk County and the Foundation she is the perfect person to write the next chapter that the Foundation will play in our community.” 

An Alabama native, Bell graduated from Brevard College in 2002. Sara founded The Gorge Zipline and Green River Adventures with her husband Tim. These two Saluda-based businesses employ more than 70 people in Polk County. Her contributions to the community are extensive and include work with the Polk County Economic and Tourism Development Commission (vice chair), Saluda  Business Association (president), Polk County Board of Education, Green River Access  Fund (treasurer/secretary), and guardian ad litem and respite foster care in Henderson  and Polk Counties. Bell has served the Foundation as a member of several key  committees and as a member of the Board of Directors since 2019.  

Bell succeeds Elizabeth Nager, who is retiring from the Foundation after 21 years.  “Elizabeth has overseen a period of phenomenal growth for the Foundation and we are  extremely grateful for her dedication to the Polk County community” remarked Sherry  Carter, board member and treasurer. 

Since 1975, the Polk County Community Foundation has been dedicated to advancing  philanthropy and improving the quality of life for all citizens in the community centered  in and around Polk County, North Carolina. The Foundation receives charitable  donations of all sizes from community members and then distributes grants to area  nonprofits, awards scholarships to local students, manages endowment funds for local  nonprofits, and administers other funds tailored to the specific charitable wishes of  individual donors.

Submitted by Noah Wood

 

Caption : Sara Bell, new CEO of Polk County Community Foundation