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| New Richland Area Foundation awards first grant |
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Posted: Thursday, July 29, 2010 11:35 am
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County News/Ruth Ann Hager New Richland Area Foundation representative Gail Schmidt presents the foundation’s first grant to City Clerk Wayne Billing to support local Girl Scouts who hope to make improvements in City Park.
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By RUTH ANN HAGER
rhager@wasecacountynews.com
NEW RICHLAND — The New Richland Girl Scouts who chose to make improvements in City Park as their Silver Award Project have received a funding boost thanks to the New Richland Area Foundation.
The foundation, under the umbrella of the Waseca Area Foundation, is represented by Gail Schmidt who presented a check for $500 to New Richland City Clerk Wayne Billing Wednesday morning.
The city accepted the funds on behalf of the Girl Scouts whose organization is not a 501c3. Billings said he opened a new city savings account for the money and the city council will actually approve expenditures from the grant. The scouts had already received the council’s permission for the park project.
The NRAF was established in 2008 shortly after Waseca Area Foundation representatives spoke to the New Richland City Council about creating a community foundation. When a New Richland resident wanted to give the city an anonymous donation of nearly $14,000, Mayor Tom McShane suggested designating the money to establish the NRAF and Schmidt was asked to become its representative.
“We’ve got the seed money which is fantastic,” said Schmidt.
The fund reached over $16,000 with donations from a New Richland Lions Club pancake breakfast foundation fundraiser.
Now, awarding the first grant has brought the foundation to a new phase of giving.
Schmidt said the options for funding will continue to expand if people continue to donate to the NRAF.
“All it takes is one generous donor or many people in the community funneling their donations to the foundation and talking about it to their friends,” said Schmidt.
“My job is to raise the awareness and get people excited about it,” she said.
Schmidt said the more comfortable people in the community become with the foundation, the more the fund will grow.
Waseca Area Foundation Director Karen Buum said she recently accepted the first memorial, a $50 donation to the NRAF.
The funds donated to the NRAF will be used at the discretion of the grants committee and can be used to benefit the city, or schools or the arts.
“It has to benefit the community — everybody who’s here,” said Billing.
The committee members are Schmidt, Pam Goehring, Matt Harrington, Scott Routh and Shirley Tappe.
Giving the $500 grant to support the Girl Scouts project will help them fulfill the “wish list” of improvements they would like to make in the park.
Scouts Cassandra Koziolek, Samantha Kohnert and Jenny Kaupa hope to start with the park bathrooms, then address other needs in stages.
“It is so admirable of the Girl Scouts to step up and do something like this,” said Buum.
Schmidt said any time kids get involved in a community project, it’s a good thing because they are the future. “And with philanthropy, if you give to your community, it comes back,” she said.
People need to know that any and all donations are entirely confidential, Schmidt said. They can go through her or go directly to Buum in the Waseca Area Foundation office, or ask to meet with Pat Abbe, Minnesota Community Foundation gift planner.
“People get to choose,” said Buum.
She said it is a huge benefit that the WAF handles the administrative fees for the New Richland foundation, maximizing the funds available for use in the community.
Schmidt is a 30-year resident of New Richland and she is passionate about the community she considers “home.” The foundation is an opportunity for residents to get involved in giving, small or large, to work for the community through a process that is “as confidential as they want it to be.”
With the American Legion and its charitable giving now gone in New Richland, Schmidt said the foundation becomes even more important to the community.
The grants committee will meet twice a year to determine the use of the NRAF funds.
“My focus would be to get it to grow so we could do more for the park, the Odd Fellows Hall, our churches and schools,” said Schmidt.
Ruth Ann Hager covers city politics and education for the Waseca County News. Reach her at 837-5446. |
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