Columbia, Women-Owned, Area Business Impacts Thousands of Families Through Charitable Giving
Just Between Friends Columbia Receives National Community Service Award

Nichole Clark (left) and Casey Elliott (right) were award the Community Impact Award the Just Between Friends annual conference in Seattle, Washington in January 2022. Flanked left – Shannon Wilburn, JBF CEO. Flanked right – Dianne Davis, JBF President.
Clark and Elliott accepted their award at the Just Between Friends National Conference in Seattle, Washington in January which included a check for them and a matching gift for their charity partners.
An independent team of judges chose JBF Columbia as this year’s Community Impact Award winner due do their ongoing efforts in providing ways for local families to help one another. Clark and Elliott spend time in their off season looking for ways to determine and proactively serve the needs of their community. The judges said, “The generous spirit of giving translates into outreach much bigger than these franchisees could do on their own,” sharing the example of a family who participated in the holiday gift drive as a way to give back, having themselves been on the receiving end of a stranger’s generosity two years ago.
Clark and Elliott said, “That family drives us to want to continue making an impact.” Columbia Just Between Friends is hosting its spring event April 21 through 23 at the Columbia Sports Fieldhouse.
About City of Refuge
City of Refuge is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization created to help refugees recover and regain control of their lives. We help refugees become productive, successful, and contributing members of our community. For more information visit: https://cityofrefugecolumbia.org/
Over the past few years, thousands of women, children, and men from Asia, Africa, and the Middle East have fled conflict and disaster, seeking a place to survive and recover in our community. City of Refuge serves them by helping with immediate needs, building relationships over time, and helping them acclimate to the Mid-Missouri area. For more information visit: https://cityofrefugecolumbia.org/.
About Central Missouri Community Action Agency
Central Missouri Community Action’s mission is to build relationships to empower people, strengthen resilience, and improve quality of life for all members of the community. CMCA is dedicated to eradicating the causes and conditions of poverty. For more information visit: https://cmca.us/.

Nichole Clark (left) and Casey Elliott (right) were award the Community Impact Award the Just Between Friends annual conference in Seattle, Washington in January 2022.