The Community Foundation for the Fox Valley Region reported an all-time high $14.4 million in grants were awarded in the past year from charitable funds established by its donors, benefiting 700 nonprofit organizations.
The 116 new charitable funds established by individuals, families, businesses and organizations in the fiscal year that ended June 30 also set a new record, Board Chair Wyon Wiegratz announced at the Community Foundation's 21st Annual Meeting Thursday evening at the Radisson Paper Valley Hotel in Appleton.
"These numbers tell us charitable giving is alive and well in our community," Wiegratz said. "The good work that people do through funds at the Foundation is woven into every aspect of life in the Fox Valley region." The effects of their charity can be seen wherever you go in the community, he said, from food pantries to after-school tutoring programs to museums and nature centers.
Contributions for the year of $24.9 million boosted the total assets of the 842 charitable funds administered by the Community Foundation to $193 million. Most of those funds are permanent endowments, which use investment earnings to provide long-term support for the donors' favorite causes.
The annual meeting featured the unveiling of a program to thank people now for gifts they intend to give upon their deaths. The Himebaugh Legacy Circle will honor people for planned gifts of any amount to be made to the Community Foundation through a will, estate plan, trust, charitable gift annuity, life insurance policy, retirement vehicle or similar method.
It is named in honor of Donald and Violet Himebaugh, the Appleton couple whose $16 million gift to the foundation was revealed only after their deaths in 2004.
"We didn't have an opportunity to thank Donald and Violet properly for a gift that will have a dramatic and lasting effect on the community," Curt Detjen, president and CEO, said. "The Himebaugh Legacy Circle gives us a way to understand people's intentions in making an estate gift – large or small – and to offer the community's thanks for their generosity."
The meeting marked the end of Wiegratz's term chairing the Board of Directors. The Neenah attorney was succeeded by Richard Bergstrom, president of Bergstrom Corp. Other officers elected were Mary Kabacinski as treasurer, Gregg Curry as secretary and vice chairs Kathy Davis, Ray Durkee, Gerald Henseler, Mark Johannsen and Wyon Wiegratz.
Three new members were elected to the board:
Departing board members include Ralph Evans, Walter S. Rugland, Kathy Westover and Al Williamson.
Copies of the Community Foundation's 2007 annual report and information on the Himebaugh Legacy Circle are available online at www.cffoxvalley.org or by calling
(920) 830-1290.