SCICF presents area groups with more than $19k in grants

The Clarke County Board of the South Central Iowa Community Foundation (SCICF) donated $19,619.52 to area groups Thursday, June 15, at a ceremony held in the courthouse courtyard. Seven recipients received checks ranging from $1,200 to $7,000.

A community foundation is unique in that donations aren’t given to recipients as grants. Instead, donations are maintained as endowments – investments – and the interest is used for charitable giving. This seemingly insignificant difference means donations are responsible for funding long-term goals in a community, not funding a single project but many projects throughout the years.

Dennis Jeter of the Clarke County SCICF presented the following seven grants:

$1555 to the Clarke Archery Club for the purchase of startup equipment

$2225 to the Clarke County Conservation Board for the purchase of benches and a sign for the roadside park in Murray

$7,000 to the Murray Community School District for the purchase of a digital sign

$3,500 to the Murray Community School Foundation to grow their existing endowment

$1,200 to the Clarke Community Student-Teacher Assistance Team (STAT) food pantry for the purchase of an upright refrigerator/freezer.

$1639.52 to the Woodburn Volunteer Fire Department for an overhead door opener and door decals

$2,500 to Restoration Ranch to replace windows

Those groups present spoke on the impact of the grants on their operations in the communities. Teresa Jackson of the Murray Community School Foundation talked about an increase in scholarships to graduating seniors. The Clarke County Conservation Board made a point of the proximity of the roadside park to the new Freedom Rock being finished this October. It will go even further in beautifying an area leading into that community. In fact, a representative said the park was the first owned and maintained by the conservation board in Clarke County, so the grant is also going to preserve a bit of local history.

Addressing potential conflicts of interest

SCICF serves Clarke, Decatur, Lucas, Ringgold and Union counties, as well as Adams, Appanoose and Wayne County affiliate groups. Each county has a board of five directors who help select grant recipients throughout the year. There’s also an executive board made up of the members of those five boards. The current SCICF Executive Board Chair Lori Borcherding is from Clarke County.

Jeter, Melissa Snell and Mellony Klemesrud represented the board during the awards ceremony. Borcherding and fellow member Jason Gibbs were unable to attend. After the checks were handed out, Jeter addressed a common problem for charitable groups in small towns.

“We had 14 or 16 applications this year,” said Jeter. “All five of us are sent that information. Individually, separately, we all go through it unless one of us is a member or familiar with a particular group or organization. We have to abstain if we’re involved in any organization,” said Jeter.

“Or related to anyone,” joked Snell, whose husband, Merrill, is the Fire Chief for the Woodburn Volunteer Fire Department.

“If you’re involved, you cannot participate,” reiterated Jeter. “I wanted you to be aware of how that process works.”

But that’s not all Jeter wanted to make people aware of.

Celebrating 25 years

“When we celebrated our 20th year a few years back, we all got together on a bus one day, and we went around to the five counties,” said Jeter. “One group in every county received a check — an endowment — for $20,000. We gave out $100,000 celebrating our 20 years.”

In 2018, SCICF celebrates its 25th anniversary. Are more major paydays on the horizon?

“Nothing’s set in concrete yet,” he said, “but we’re talking about it.”

Jeter encouraged public groups to stay in touch with the foundation in the near future and to continue to apply for grants when needed.

“We surprised a lot of people,” he said.

Chances are, they’ll be ready to surprise a few more in about a year.