Foundation makes a splash with GNAP donation

Greybull Needs a Pool, Inc. has received a generous gift from an unlikely source as it looks ahead to the 2026 season and beyond.

An active, registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, GNAP was formed to help raise money and rally support for the construction of an outdoor swimming pool in Greybull, which became a reality in the summer of 2020.

Since then, GNAP’s focus has evolved into supporting the Town of Greybull, which manages the pool, with an emphasis on ensuring that kids are able to swim for free.

In the years to come, it will be in a far better position to do so, thanks to a $10,000 donation from the Odyssey Group Foundation. The foundation was formed in 2007 to provide funding to charitable organizations active in communities in which Odyssey Group employees live and work. 

That’s where Bette Rae Jones comes in. For the last 12 years, she’s been an area claims supervisor for Hudson Insurance Group, which is the U.S. Insurance Division of the Odyssey Group.

Every two years, the foundation conducts an employee nomination campaign. In 2023, a  year in which the foundation awarded $2.75 million to 150 charitable organizations worldwide, Jones requested money on behalf of the local CARES organization; the foundation came through with a donation of $2,500.

“We were super excited to receive that — twenty-five hundred was way more than we’d even dreamed of,” Jones said.

This year, Jones sought money for GNAP. The chair of the Big Horn County School District No. 3 board of trustees, she was aware that the organization had approached BOCES, looking for funding to help support operations, pay swimming lessons and replace equipment.  Last summer was the first time that the new pool did not offer swimming lessons, with a lack of lifeguards cited as the reason. There was some talk at the BOCES meeting of offering a class that would make it easier for lifeguards to get their training, which in turn would lead to the return of lessons.

Jones said the money from the Odyssey foundation comes with no strings attached. She wasn’t required to provide specifics when she applied, but GNAP will eventually be required to submit a report, detailing how the money was spent. There is no sunset date.

“We were thrilled to receive it,” said Timmy Anderson, who accepted the check last week on behalf of GNAP. “We just want to be a support to the town — from the beginning, that’s all we’ve wanted.” 

Jones added that the foundation receives nominations for charities as large as St. Baldrick’s (which raises money to help find cures for children with cancer) and as small as GNAP.  “They just want to award money in the places where their employees work, and that’s what’s nice about it for us because it’s not limited to the where the majority of people work.”