Community Foundation Looks Back At Annual meeting
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Jordan Fouts-
The organization was called the Greater Warsaw Foundation before Don Frantz, a Purdue Extension agent and longtime member of the foundation board, pushed it to serve the whole county. The endowment he and his wife set up wasn’t the biggest, Director Suzie Light said during its annual meeting Wednesday, but it has grown over the years and it has made a difference.
The size of the gift – $45,000 initially, which has grown by 30 percent and awarded close to $29,000 – isn’t what makes it significant, she said, but how it demonstrates the power of endowment and that anyone can be a philanthropist.
“Don and Mildred were hard-working people. They were not extremely wealthy. They had children and grandchildren. They cared about their community,” Light said. But whenever a check from their discretionary fund goes toward an organization like Habitat for Humanity or Special Olympics, “we are reminded that everyday people can make an extraordinary difference, forever.”
Overall this year, the foundation awarded nearly $2.6 million in grants to dozens of local organizations, 200 scholarships to students and $190,000 in financial assistance to people facing medical crises, board President Jerry Yeager said.
Other highlights included sponsoring in March a visit from Holocaust survivor Eva Kor, who spoke to 3,000 students and another 3,000 community members; $23,000 in educational grants through youth philanthropy group KEYS, which focused on reading proficiency; over $72,000 awarded through the Kosciusko REMC Operation Round Up Fund, funded by REMC customers; the establishment of 15 new funds, aimed at such areas as agriculture, jail ministry and the support of women in their careers; and the foundation reached assets of nearly $55 million, he said.
“The Community Foundation’s grantmaking reflected our desire to make sure Kosciusko County is a place where residents can feel safe, secure and a sense of belonging,” Yeager said.
Highlights cited by Associate Director Stephanie Overbey included creating the Ag Cares Fund to address feeding the needy, and supporting local youth and agriculture education; adding the Lake Wawasee Community Fund to preserve and improve water quality and sponsoring the Chautauqua series at Oakwood Inn in Syracuse; and focusing on education in science, technology and water ecology.
Light also shared that the foundation learned in October that the Lilly Endowment Inc. approved them to participate in the Giving Indiana Funds for Tomorrow VI program, which will match donations to the foundation’s “Bring It Home” campaign up to $1 million. The deadline for the foundation to raise its own $1 million match is March 31, 2016.
Also Wednesday, the foundation recognized professional advisors Peggy Michel, Rick Morris and Jay Rigdon; and retiring board members Zoe Howard, Ron Manahan and Jim McFadden.
Newly elected officers for 2015 were also named: Jerry Yeager, president; Allison McSherry, vice president; Rob Parker, secretary; Steve Snyder, treasurer; Jerry Clevenger, finance/investment chair and assistance treasurer; and Light as executive director.[[In-content Ad]]
The organization was called the Greater Warsaw Foundation before Don Frantz, a Purdue Extension agent and longtime member of the foundation board, pushed it to serve the whole county. The endowment he and his wife set up wasn’t the biggest, Director Suzie Light said during its annual meeting Wednesday, but it has grown over the years and it has made a difference.
The size of the gift – $45,000 initially, which has grown by 30 percent and awarded close to $29,000 – isn’t what makes it significant, she said, but how it demonstrates the power of endowment and that anyone can be a philanthropist.
“Don and Mildred were hard-working people. They were not extremely wealthy. They had children and grandchildren. They cared about their community,” Light said. But whenever a check from their discretionary fund goes toward an organization like Habitat for Humanity or Special Olympics, “we are reminded that everyday people can make an extraordinary difference, forever.”
Overall this year, the foundation awarded nearly $2.6 million in grants to dozens of local organizations, 200 scholarships to students and $190,000 in financial assistance to people facing medical crises, board President Jerry Yeager said.
Other highlights included sponsoring in March a visit from Holocaust survivor Eva Kor, who spoke to 3,000 students and another 3,000 community members; $23,000 in educational grants through youth philanthropy group KEYS, which focused on reading proficiency; over $72,000 awarded through the Kosciusko REMC Operation Round Up Fund, funded by REMC customers; the establishment of 15 new funds, aimed at such areas as agriculture, jail ministry and the support of women in their careers; and the foundation reached assets of nearly $55 million, he said.
“The Community Foundation’s grantmaking reflected our desire to make sure Kosciusko County is a place where residents can feel safe, secure and a sense of belonging,” Yeager said.
Highlights cited by Associate Director Stephanie Overbey included creating the Ag Cares Fund to address feeding the needy, and supporting local youth and agriculture education; adding the Lake Wawasee Community Fund to preserve and improve water quality and sponsoring the Chautauqua series at Oakwood Inn in Syracuse; and focusing on education in science, technology and water ecology.
Light also shared that the foundation learned in October that the Lilly Endowment Inc. approved them to participate in the Giving Indiana Funds for Tomorrow VI program, which will match donations to the foundation’s “Bring It Home” campaign up to $1 million. The deadline for the foundation to raise its own $1 million match is March 31, 2016.
Also Wednesday, the foundation recognized professional advisors Peggy Michel, Rick Morris and Jay Rigdon; and retiring board members Zoe Howard, Ron Manahan and Jim McFadden.
Newly elected officers for 2015 were also named: Jerry Yeager, president; Allison McSherry, vice president; Rob Parker, secretary; Steve Snyder, treasurer; Jerry Clevenger, finance/investment chair and assistance treasurer; and Light as executive director.[[In-content Ad]]
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