Alice Morris and Her Legacy for Underprivileged Children

The first thing you notice when you walk into Alice Morris's home are the pictures. There are pictures of family, friends, and many, many pictures of her late husband, Robert. It's easy to see that family and friends are what's most important in Alice's life. Her prized photographs keep them all close to her heart.

Robert and Alice met in the early 1930s while they were "cruising" the streets of Southern Illinois. "You know, I gave him my phone number and he didn't call for three months!" recalls Alice. "When he did call, I thought he was someone else calling to ask me out!" When they finally did get together for their first date, the two hit it off right from the start. Their eventual marriage lasted an astounding 67 years.

The Morrises started their marriage in Posey County but business ventures led them to Evansville and as far as Florida. Alice now lives in Mt. Vernon.

Throughout the years, the Morrises have been active participants in community life, supporting and serving many organizations such as the YWCA, Operation City Beautiful, Evansville Museum of Arts and Science, Buffalo Trace Council Boy Scouts of America, Deaconess Hospital, Hillcrest-Washington Youth Home, University of Evansville, and Albion Fellows Bacon Center just to name a few. Through their years of service, the Morrises became particularly interested in agencies serving underprivileged children. In 1993 they turned to the Posey County Community Foundation to establish an endowment to support programs geared toward these children.

Yearly proceeds from the Morris Family Fund are granted based on a competitive process established by the Foundation. Since the fund was established in 1993, grants have been awarded to numerous nonprofit organizations, such as the Mt. Vernon Lion's Club to conduct vision screenings for Posey County children, to the Children's Learning Center for musical instruments and developmental toys, to Mt. Vernon Junior High School for a tutoring program for disadvantaged youth, and to the Christian Church Day Care Center in Wadesville to buy playground equipment. The Morris Fund has awarded more than $29,000 over the past fourteen years.

"I hope our fund continues to do many more great things for the children in Posey County," said Alice.