Community Foundation of the Ozarks

The Greater Seymour Area Foundation was established in August 13, 1998 and has grown to include 22 funds. Since its inception, the Greater Seymour Area Foundation has made $36,374.84 in charitable grants and distributions.

A program that the Greater Seymour Area Foundation works closely with is the Dolly Parton Imagination Library.

“(Parton) began this program after discovering that the illiteracy rate in her hometown was 35 percent amongst the adults,” Ron Giedd said. “While you can’t do much for the adults, you can start with the children and provide a way for them to learn how to read.”

The Dolly Parton Imagination Library provides a book a month to all registered children from birth to age 5. The books are selected by a panel of learning experts and mailed to the child.

“We do this for two program for two reasons,” Giedd said. “The philanthropic reason is to help kids get a start on their education, and the other reason is to get our name out there and develop recognition.”

Every book that goes into the household gets sent with the child’s name on it and says it is from the Greater Seymour Area Community Foundation.

The program has shown great results in improving the illiteracy rate as it lowered to 15 percent.

“The kids said, ‘Read me this book, mommy,’ and the parent had to learn to how,” Giedd said.

The cost per child is $30 a year. There are currently 62 children registered in the Seymour area for this program. To sustain this level of membership, the Greater Seymour Area Foundation needs additional donations.

“It’s a challenge to the community to keep this alive,” Giedd said. “We can’t take endowment money; this is a program that completely stands alone.”

To become a donor, or for more information, contact Renne Wallace at (417) 935-2888.

The Community Foundation of Southwest Missouri, Inc. achieved an important milestone this summer as their total assets grew well beyond the $5 million mark ($5.6 million as of July 31, 2007). The largest of Community Foundation of the Ozarks’ 41 regional affiliate foundations, the foundation has been a leader in regional philanthropic efforts since being established in 1999.

Established as the Carthage Community Foundation in 1999, the foundation awarded their first round of community grants and grew to almost one million dollars in total assets by 2002. The organization’s growth picked up steam over the following years and they reached the $4 million mark in total assets by 2006. That year also brought a significant expansion in the foundation’s service area as they expanded services to include Barton, Jasper, Newton and McDonald counties in their mission to enhance the quality of life in communities throughout the southwestern portion of Missouri. To reflect this regional commitment, the Carthage Community Foundation officially changed their name to the Community Foundation of Southwest Missouri, Inc.

As charitable funds have grown, so has the foundation’s grantmaking program. To date, the Community Foundation of Southwest Missouri, Inc. has made almost $2 million in charitable grants and distributions. This includes moneys distributed from scholarship funds, donor advised funds, family and community funds, and others.

The Curtis Rex Carter Science Scholarship Fund, established with the Community Foundation of Southwest Missouri, Inc. in November of 2006, awards a four-year, $5,000 scholarship to a graduate of a Jasper County high school pursuing a degree in an applied science field, such as engineering or chemistry. Curt Carter, a Carthage native, established the scholarship with an IRA transfer, using the IRA Charitable Rollover provision of the Pension Protection Act of 2006. (Read more about Mr. Carter’s scholarship fund here.)

Carter’s fund is one of 45 individual funds held by the Community Foundation of Southwest Missouri, Inc. and one of nine new funds established with the foundation during the 2007 fiscal year.

Like other community foundations, through their commitment to the towns and counties they serve, the Community Foundation of Southwest Missouri, Inc. has endeavored to preserve local history. These efforts preserve an authentic sense of place and regional identity as well as revitalizing residential and business districts.

The Endowment Partner program assists area nonprofits with endowment building and improving their capacity to improve service. (Learn more about CFO’s Endowment Partner program here.) The Powers Museum in Carthage is an important resource for the preservation and study of the city’s rich history through their archives, reference library, community events and education programs. The museum became a Community Foundation of Southwest Missouri, Inc. Endowment Partner in May 2007 when they established and organizational capacity building fund to assist them in managing their operational and program assets.

Two of the foundation’s donors and the Eastern Jasper County Historical Sites Association are working to renovate the historic one room Cave Spring School northeast of Sarcoxie. More than 160 years old, the one room school building has been a female academy, church, funeral parlor, a garrison for Union troops in the Civil War, and served briefly as the Jasper County Courthouse in the year following the Civil War. In 2005, the Missouri Alliance for Historic Preservation placed the school on its list of the ten most endangered state historic sites. Through their donor advised fund with the Community Foundation of Southwest Missouri, Inc. John and Carolyn Phelps are funding the improvements needed to preserve the historic building, such as replacing the roof and updating the exterior brick work, through a donor advised fund. Carolyn Phelps was one of the founding members of the Carthage Community Foundation, and has served on the board of directors since 1999.

“It’s a blessing. They’re going to make possible for future generations to see it,” Helen Hunter, Eastern Jasper County Historical Sites Association vice president, told the Carthage Press in July. “I think the Phelps are very foresighted people.”

Scholarships and historic preservation represent just a portion of the foundation’s efforts to enhance the quality of life in the communities they serve. Increasing levels of charitable assets will mean greater opportunities for the Community Foundation of Southwest Missouri, Inc. to positively impact the cities and towns they serve. And that is what ultimately makes the $5 million milestone such an important one.

El Dorado Springs Community Foundation was founded in 2001. Currently, the El Dorado Springs Community Foundation’s market value is near $225,000 and during the past five years this foundation has provided $117,000 in grant funds to the local community with a goal of having $20,000 each year for local grants.El Dorado Springs Community Foundation currently has five board members. This board’s role has been more of an education role rather than fundraising. They sent letters introducing the foundation to a select group of community members and have sponsored banquets to announce grant recipients and to provide information about the foundation. Currently the El Dorado Springs Community Foundation has joined with the Chamber of Commerce’s Annual Banquet to announce grant recipients and provide additional information about the El Dorado Springs Foundation. The foundation currently has 14 funds.

“After 5 years we still feel new in this venture—we still feel like we have much to learn about building funds for our community, but we are nearly one quarter of a million dollars ahead of where we were when we started plus we have provided $117,000 for the enrichment of our community during that time,” President Kay Forest said. “We are proud of our successes and are confident that the next five years will be even more prosperous for us.”

Matching funds have been a motivator for the El Dorado Springs community. “Community Foundation of the Ozarks has provided matching funds which has been enormous in its power to leverage money,” Forest said. El Dorado Springs Community Foundation has also had employers match contributions made by employees which resulted in $3,000 becoming $9,000 when the employers of both spouses matched their charitable contributions.

“Certainly, Gary Funk and his staff at the Community Foundation of the Ozarks are the wind beneath our wings,” Forest said. “CFO resources represent the key in the development and growth of our regional community foundations. We can’t imagine that many rural communities would have discovered the benefits of this philanthropic opportunity if not for the vision of Gary Funk.”