Ojai Valley News: OVDF creates John Broesamle Founder’s Award

Thank you to the Ojai Valley News for highlighting the creation of the John Broesamle Founder’s Award. The article ran on page A4 in the Friday, February 16, 2024 edition.
Read it in PDF form here.

The Ojai Valley Defense Fund announced that it has received a special gift from a generous local supporter. The $100,000 donation was made to honor Defense Fund founder John Broesamle, who passed away last June. The donor, who wishes to remain anonymous, is a valley resident and longtime supporter of the Defense Fund and other environmental efforts.

John Broesamle.
Photo by Misty Hall

“When I learned of John’s passing,” wrote the donor, “my heart broke for our community. John’s tireless efforts on behalf of the Ojai Valley for the past several decades earned him the nickname of ‘Conservation Giant,’ and indeed he was. It is crucial that we remember and honor the environmental pioneers of the valley. John’s legacy of acquiring open space and protecting the environmental well-being of the valley as a whole is an enduring gift to us all. John inspired me in ways that words cannot express. By my gift, I hope to honor and thank John, and to ensure that his incredible and lasting contributions to the Ojai Valley are remembered in perpetuity. I am a better person for having known John. We all are. May he rest in peace, with our profound thanks.”

The gift was made to endow the OVDF operating account. This is a fairly new account, created in 2022 as a way to address the few routine expenses the organization incurs. As an all-volunteer nonprofit with no paid staff, the OVDF has historically looked to its board members and a small circle of generous friends to cover its expenses. This was done as a way to ensure that 100% of every donated dollar went directly to fulfill the OVDF mission to protect and sustain the environmental quality of the Ojai Valley for the public benefit. Thanks to this transformative gift, our minimal operating costs have been endowed for the future.

Income from the new operating endowment also will fund the John Broesamle Founder’s Award, a new award created to honor the legacy of John Broesamle by recognizing community members whose efforts resonate with the mission and goals of the Defense Fund. The John Broesamle Founder’s Award will be granted each year to a deserving individual selected by the OVDF board.

Defense Fund President Christopher Land responded with enthusiasm and appreciation to the gift, noting: “Not only is a gift of this size of monumental help to our mission, it also is extraordinarily heartfelt and meaningful. We are deeply humbled by the donor’s generosity of spirit and support in ensuring that John’s legacy is remembered into the future, which we hope will inspire others to step in where John left off. Not only does this gift honor our founder and his work on behalf of the Ojai Valley, but it will allow the organization he helped establish to fulfill its mission in perpetuity with the fiscal efficiency and transparency John was so committed to maintaining.” 

Defense Fund board member Jim Jackson — a former student, neighbor, and dear friend of John’s for more than 50 years — added the following: “John would no doubt be humbled by this amazing gift, but he would also be thrilled that the OVDF will be able to honor individuals who work hard to protect the Ojai Valley.”