As 2016 draws to a close, members of the former Allen County Community Foundation are working feverishly to reach the latest grant threshold to earn a $50,000 grant from the Kansas Health Foundation
But there’s an $85,000 hurdle in the way. That’s how much must be raised by Dec. 31 to receive the KHF funds, explained Iolan Gary McIntosh.
McIntosh noted the board of directors to the foundation recently renamed it as Your Community Foundation.
He spoke extensively about the foundation’s benefits with fellow Iolans Jerry Whitworth and Spencer Ambler. A Register reporter was in the audience.
“The sad thing is, there are still lots of people who don’t understand what we do,” McIntosh said. “We’re still growing, but we’ve done pretty well.”
Indeed, the Foundation now has more than $1 million in assets, and has raised over $4 million since its inception more than five years ago, McIntosh said. “That’s not nothing.”
IN SIMPLE terms, a community foundation is a civic bank account, with a long-term goal of enhancing the quality of life locally by supporting various charitable and non-profit organizations.
Currently, Your Community Foundation has accounts for 28 local groups, ranging from Farm-City Days and Allen County Animal Rescue Facility (ACARF) to the Allen County Regional Hospital Equipment Fund.
In addition, YCF has 10 endowment funds, from which only interest on principle is used to purchase goods, to ensure its perpetuity.
Two endowment funds, in particular, are where McIntosh’s interests lie this month.
If YCF can reach $100,000 in donations to its Allen County Public Health or Allen County Administration endowments, the Kansas Health Foundation will match those funds with an additional $50,000.
“Actually, that number is closer to $70,000,” because of other Kansas Health Foundation grants totaling $20,000 for such things as staff training and facility upkeep, McIntosh said. “It’s a big, big deal.”
And that’s what has happened the previous four years, as YCF successfully took in donations totaling $100,000 for those two endowments.
But time is running short to reach that threshold in year five. “We’re quite a ways away, but I think we’ll make it,” McIntosh said.
