The theme was "Legacies -ÊYour Hand In Shaping the Future." Music was provided by MasterWorks musicians.

Bob Condon, board president, said the Foundation is 37 years old, one of the oldest in the state. He presented the annual report and said, "Legacy, our theme this year, allows us to achieve our charitable dreams."

Highlights of the Annual Report were:

• 13 new funds established, compared to the Indiana average of five per year.

• 167 students received scholarships or trade school tuition.

• Significant standards and practices were established -ÊThe Foundation was among the first in the state to complete adoption of ethical and operational standards, which were recognized for excellence by the Indiana Alliance.

• One of the first to adopt a Lilly Endowment sustaining resource plan that was approved the first time it was presented.

• $1 million in grants awarded this year; $7 million since 1992.

• 44 people were recognized by the Heart of Gold program.

• Kosciusko Endowment Youth Services allows eighth-grade through high school senior youths to work with their own programs of grant making and learn about philanthropy and grant making.

• Assets have grown to more than $26 million.

Suzie Light, executive director of the Foundation, thanked all who have donated to the Foundation and introduced the Legacy Album, which will include pictures of donors and preserve the Foundation's story for the future.

Light introduced two new board members, Sharon Sommers and Jerry Clevenger. She said, "We have an extraordinary group on our board of directors. I'd also especially like to thank the staff, who supports the Foundation and me."

Announcing the retirement of board member Avis Gunter, Light said, "Avis has been a member of the board since 1992. She has been one of our most dedicated board members - she has missed only two meetings, counting today."

Officers elected were: Brad Bishop, chairman of the governance committee; Bob Condon, re-elected president; Craig Tidball, vice president; Mindy Truex, secretary; Al Wuthrich, treasurer; and Suzie Light, executive director.

Speakers for the event were Dr. Patrick Kavanaugh, MasterWorks, and Angela Culp, scholarship recipient.

Kavanaugh said, "I want to share how special this community and the Foundation are. Having lived near Washington, D.C., I would not have believed this organization. I wanted a relationship with the community, and that was not usually the case. I've never seen anything like this - it's really a community with a capital 'C'. To me, legacy means how can we make it better for future generations. I'm grateful to all of you."

Light introduced Culp as one of the 167 students supported by the Foundation. She said, "It's hard to choose in a community blessed with so many wonderful kids." She told how Culp had touched the hearts of the Foundation staff. "She stopped by to say thank you as she graduated from college." Culp graduated from Goshen College with a 4.0 grade point average.

Culp said, "It's important that you know what you did for me -Êhow you made a difference. Things started to change for me when I came to Warsaw. I was the first in my family to graduate from high school and was on my own at 17.

"I started to work at the Spectacle Shoppe and found a family that didn't want anything back. They helped me get started with my first semester. Sometimes I had to work more than one job to support myself. Then I met Suzie and became a part of the family at the Foundation. I graduated in May after seven years. To me, the legacy is wanting my nieces and nephews to have opportunities."

Light closed by thanking the volunteers "who make stories like Angela's possible." [[In-content Ad]]