Ken Wessel On Blogger

Thursday, March 3, 2022

History of the John Island’s Foundation

Ken Wessel is a Florida-based entrepreneur and philanthropist with over two decades of experience in the fragrance industry. Founder of Wessel Fragrances, Ken Wessel, makes donations to charitable organizations, including the John Island Foundation.

The John Island Foundation broadens opportunities and transforms lives for the Indian River community members by providing capital grants for non-profit agencies. The organization's story begins with a 1999 meeting to address the needs of the Indian River County. Members of the John Island community gathered in Elle McCabe's living room to discuss the lack of funding for non-profit agencies in the Indian River County.

Following the meeting, local attorney John Moore alongside members of the John Island community, established the John Island's Foundation. The group laid down by-laws to guide the organization in carrying out its mission to raise funding to make capital grants to on-profit agencies operating in the Indian River County. Elle McCabe also assumed the position of the first president of the foundation.

The foundation received its first batch of funding from 20 potential donors and a public appeal sent out to the John island Community. The result of this patch was $427,831, which was sent out as grants to a total of 22 agencies.

Wednesday, February 23, 2022

The RIFM

Between 1988 and 2008, the Vero Beach, Florida resident Ken Wessel operated Wessel Fragrances. To reward his work in the industry, in 2008, the Research Institute for Fragrance Materials (RIFM) recognized Ken Wessel for 33 years serving on the organization’s board. The RIFM is the leading organization collecting and distributing fragrance materials’ safety information.

Founded in 1966, the RIFM maintains resources cataloging fragrance materials and describing any safety issues to consumers. Groups of independent dermatologists, toxicologists, and more test and collect data about new materials to assist the organization. Then, the RIFM stores these findings and creates safety standards to protect consumers and address environmental concerns. These standards govern organizations like the International Fragrance Association (IFRA).

The RIFM publishes its work in several forms. Most notably, its database of over 6,000 fragrance materials is the largest of its kind globally, allowing subscribers to read the fact sheets for all of the featured ingredients. Alongside annual reports on their website, the RIFM publishes peer-reviewed articles in journals like Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology. Some of these articles are available to download free from the RIFM’s website.