President Clark speaks at opening ceremony
- posted: 26 June 2007
- scrollnews@byui.edu
On Monday, June 18, the Rexburg Chamber of Commerce hosted the grand opening of the LDS Philanthropies’ new office located off of Stationary Road. LDS Philanthropies is an organization in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that works with the Presiding Bishopric to raise money for different charitable institutions of the church.
Once housed in the Spencer W. Kimball Building at BYU-Idaho, LDS Philanthropies decided to move their offices to give President Clark much-needed office space to use for his administration staff. LDS Philanthropies doesn’t just serve BYU-I and viewed this move as an opportunity to re-introduce themselves to the community, according to Rich Ballou, donor liaison for LDS Philanthropies.
The open house allowed the more than 100 people in attendance to view the new offices that will house not only LDS Philanthropies, but also some offices for the Presiding Bishopric. Lunch and live music were provided.
David Richards, director of LDS Philanthropies of BYU-I, who opened the ribbon cutting ceremony at noon, said, “If I could have spelled Philanthropies in high school, I would have passed my senior English class.”
President Clark, who was also present at the ceremony, thanked Richards “for [his] leadership and untiring devotion to the university.” Regarding the Perpetual Education Fund, Clark said that LDS Philanthropies has established “concepts that will bless the lives of thousands of young people, [and] we’ll see this unfold in a marvelous way.”
Afterward, President Clark, surrounded by the Philanthropy team, cut the ribbon that officially opened the LDS Philanthropy offices.
“We’ve looked forward to this day. This is an important event. [LDS Philanthropies] has a tremendous impact on the lives of many,” Clark said. 
