The Community Foundation of Greater Fort Wayne loves the community that we call home. So do our volunteers. The Community Foundation’s volunteers are the people outside these doors, impacting the community and inspiring change. Ron Menze is one of those volunteers. Ron’s love and commitment to Fort Wayne is evident in the time and talents he gives to the community he calls home.
Ron’s passion for volunteering started back in his college years when he began donating blood to the American Red Cross. To him, this seemed like an ideal volunteer opportunity because he was able to fit it around his busy schedule. He continued to volunteer in that single solitary manner for 10 years. After his return to Fort Wayne, he applied his new skill set and became a board member and board chair of the Red Cross in 1993, where he served for over 18 years.
“Volunteering is connecting the strongest elements in your life with how you can currently serve.” Ron said. “You have to really seek out the most opportune way of doing that.”
Now that Ron is retired, he participates in national disaster deployments for the Red Cross. He helped the communities of South Florida when they were struck by Hurricane Irma in 2017. In October, he served in North Carolina, an area that received 39 inches of rainfall in a single day. Ron is not only active in the Red Cross but also with Friends of the Rivers, the History Center and the Community Foundation of Greater Fort Wayne. Ron helps through his roles as a Board Member for Friends of the Rivers, The History Center and a member of the Grants Review Committee, Summit Initiative Committee and Community Partnerships, Inc Board at the Community Foundation. Ron is a true reflection of using and balancing his time, talent and treasure. He has always adapted the ways he gives to fit with his lifestyle and the ways he can give at that time.
During Ron’s time as a Principal at MKM architecture + design he worked on many projects for healthcare design including hospital buildings in the Midwest, but also established a scholarship fund at Community Foundation for Architecture majors at Ball State University, where he attended college. Even after retiring, Ron continues to give and be a part of the scholarship he helped create at MKM architecture + design.
Ron and his wife Diane also established the Menze Family Donor Advised Fund in 2010 through the Community Foundation. Since 2014, Ron, Diane and their three children, when gathered for Christmas, recommend and designate a local charity for a grant from the fund.
Ron’s passion for serving others comes from his faith in God. The abundance of his blessings inspires him to give back to others in the best ways he can. Northeast Indiana is home and is just one of the many reasons why he gives so intentionally to the organizations he is a part of here.
Thank you Ron, for sharing your passion and love for this community we all call home!