Talk of the Town - Whitley County

(Talk of the Town photos by Jennifer Zartman Romano) Whitley County Community Foundation executive director September McConnell, standing far left, talks with Columbia City Chamber of Commerce members Friday during the monthly business briefing luncheon at Parkview Whitley Hospital. McConnell and others gave an overview of what the local community foundation has accomplished. Below is Susan Frantz of the Huntington University Excel program, which provides college coursework through the university in Whitley County. The Huntington University Excel program was the sponsor of Friday's luncheon.

By Jennifer Zartman Romano

Board members and staff of the Whitley County Community Foundation brought local business leaders a colorful overview of the ways the organization has impacted the community in its 17-year history during Friday’s business briefing luncheon.

The monthly luncheon, coordinated by the Columbia City Chamber of Commerce, provided an opportunity to understand the past and look forward to the future.

According to Whitley County Community Foundation board member John Lefever, approximately 1.9 billion in assets are held by community foundations in Indiana.

Kay Fleck, a long time supporter of the foundation and an instrumental part of it’s early beginnings, recalled that the plans for a local community foundation came to fruition one day with a $100,000 pledge from the Dekko Foundation and discussions over lunch at Pirate’s Cove (now Timmy's Nook) at Tri Lakes.

“Dekko and of course (The Eli Lilly Foundation) were the impetus for getting us started,” Lefever said.

Though the Whitley County Community Foundation is now located in a beautiful, restored, brick building on Whitley Street, it had humble beginnings in an office above then Estlick Girvin & Lefever insurance agency in downtown Columbia City. The first director was Sharon Beckman Smith.

After sharing the past, executive director September McConnell brought the Chamber members into the future with an overview of the various aspects of the community foundation’s services.

“Charitable gift annuities are a really cool tool,” McConnell said. She explained that a $10,000 gift to the foundation benefits the donor with a 6.5% annual payment ($650) back to the donor and a $4,062 tax deduction using the fictitious example of Aunt Mildred’s dream of making a gift to her local community foundation for a particular interest near and dear to her heart.

“She receives a secure stream of income, a tax deduction and made her dream come true,” McConnell said. McConnell said gift annuities often mature beyond the amount of the original gift, a credit to the investment strategies of the Whitley County Community Foundation – and a benefit to donors whose gifts have the ability of helping even more than they may have initially planned.

McConnell shared that people can give gifts to the foundation in various forms – cash, personal property, stocks, real estate, etc.

Using those gifts, the foundation is able to invest back into the community in the form of grants to worthy organizations.

“Without our donors, we wouldn’t be making grants,” McConnell said. Last year, an estimated $1.2 million was granted locally.

Scholarships are also a big portion of the work the local community foundation handles. McConnell said that since 1998, 16 four-year Lilly Scholarship have been awarded to local students, in addition to other numerous scholarships to support higher education.

Other significant grant success stories have included the Senior Center, Whitley County Transit and the Splashpad – all of which have worked with the Whitley County Community Foundation to seek and receive grant funding.

In 17 years, the Whitley County Community Foundation has gained almost $17 million in assets. “Whitley County is a very generous community,” McConnell said.

“If I had a word to describe our community foundation, it would be blessed,” McConnell said, adding that the foundation is blessed with caring donors, an active, engaged board of directors and a fabulous staff. “We’re blessed to be giving back to Whitley County.”

Friday’s Chamber luncheon was sponsored by the Huntington University Excel program in Whitley County. This was the last luncheon of the season held at Parkview Whitley Hospital before the luncheons cease for the summer months.

Next month’s luncheon will feature an onsite tour of Five Star Distributing. To reserve as spot for the tour, contact the Columbia City Chamber of Commerce at 244-8131.