About Us

Our Story

The Living Water Foundation was established in 1999 as a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization with a simple purpose: to help people in our community live healthier, better lives.

Our story began with a charitable fund created to help patients who could not afford needed medications. Recognizing that this small effort had the potential to become something much greater, former high school principal Marcia Ballentine drafted the Foundation’s original bylaws and encouraged her family physician, Dr. Oscar Lovelace, to transform the fund into an organization that could serve the broader needs of the community.

That simple beginning became the foundation for more than 25 years of service.

Through the years, the needs of our community have changed and the Living Water Foundation has grown with them. What began as assistance for patients in need has expanded into programs, partnerships and initiatives designed to support health, wellness and quality of life in many different ways.

One of the most visible expressions of that mission is the Living Water Foundation Community Garden, established in 2014. Through the garden, volunteers grow fresh fruits and vegetables for distribution through local food pantries and community partners, helping increase access to nutritious food for our neighbors.

Living Water Foundation is more than a garden.

The Foundation exists to see a need and find a way to help. Sometimes that means providing practical assistance. Sometimes it means bringing organizations and people together. Sometimes it means supporting healthier choices, creating opportunities, or simply stepping into a gap when someone needs a hand.

None of this happens through the work of one person. For more than two decades, dedicated board members, volunteers, donors, businesses, churches and community partners have given their time, resources and talents to move the mission forward.

And through all the ways our work has grown and changed, our purpose has remained remarkably simple:

“Encouraging all people to achieve a better quality of life.”

We believe stronger communities are built when people care for one another. We believe good health involves more than medical care. And we believe even a small act of generosity can become the beginning of something much bigger.

Our story began with people who saw a need and chose to do something about it.

More than 25 years later, we’re still doing just that—and our story is still being written.

Join the story. Whether you volunteer, give, partner with us or simply help us spread the word, there is a place for you in the work of Living Water Foundation.