It's always gratifying to attend the annual April awards program of the South Central Iowa Community Foundation, held Monday evening in the Lodge at Pin Oak Marsh. This big group includes representatives of all the Lucas County non-profit and public groups and agencies that benefited from this year's distribution of $101,314.96 (that's the total on the big check). Also included are Foundation board members and staff.
I'm happy to report that the Lucas County Historical Society received $6,000 that will be matched to continue efforts to make the museum campus fully accessible, including a handicap-accessible trail to the Bill Marner Blacksmith Shop. Our friends at the John L. Lewis Museum of Mining and Labor at Lucas also received a substantial grant for projects there.
The big winners, however, were young people who will benefit from major grants to music and athletic programs at Chariton Community Schools, grants to the Hope Learning Center and more. Lucas County fire departments also benefitted, as did the Interchurch Council's Ministry Center, now preparing to house the county's Salvation Army programs and working on other projects to serve those in need, and the Chariton Free Public Library. And there were more grants, ranging from several hundred to several thousand dollars.
The Community Foundation and others like it across the state administer Iowa's County Endowment Fund Program and offer other services and incentives to promote charitable giving and local philanthropy. The foundations, which also specifically serve counties where state-licensed casinos are not located, receive a share of annual gaming tax proceeds. Seventy-five percent of the proceeds are distributed annually during programs like this; the balance goes into permanent charitable endowments for the counties they serve. The South Central Iowa Community Foundation is headquartered in Chariton. It serves Clarke, Decatur, Lucas, Ringgold and Union counties. Adams, Appanoose and Wayne are affiliate counties.
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