A Joint Initiative Between     Heart of Wisconsin     Business & Economic Alliance and     Community Foundation of Greater     South Wood County

Home About Us B2B Club Breaking News Contact Donate Events / Programs Feedback Ideas Incubator Industry Clusters Links / Resources Progess Funds Progress Teams Public Art / Murals Publications		Breaking News August 6, 2004 - Fund Offers $500,000 to Match Nonprofit Endowment Funds By ANTOINETTE RAHN and DEB CLEWORTH, Daily Tribune Staff The Community Foundation of South Wood County heads into its next decade of service with the theme "Plant The Seed - Endow Your Community." And the next big seed of money has already been planted. The Barker Mead Fund will provide a matching grant to help stretch contributions to nonprofit groups, Ruth Barker told a crowd of more than 200 during the foundation's annual meeting and 10th anniversary celebration Wednesday at the Centralia Center. The fund, which is helping to support the Community Progress Initiative, was established earlier this year by Gilbert and Jaylee Mead of Washington, D.C. and Ruth and Hartley Barker of Arizona. Ruth Barker and Gilbert Mead are grandchildren of Consolidated Papers Inc. co-founder George Mead I. The Barker Mead Fund will match up to $25,000 in donations for each nonprofit group, up to a total of $500,000. The grant will double gifts and pledges made by Dec. 31, 2005. Jennifer Hanzlik, executive director of Building Blocks Learning Center Inc., was thrilled about the opportunity to double the size of grants. The center is one of the few nonprofit child care centers in Wisconsin Rapids. "We are fortunate, as our board of directors has just recently voted to establish an endowment fund with the south Wood County foundation," Hanzlik said. "As a nonprofit, we do rely on that type of generosity from people." Building Blocks is "eager to make use of this opportunity," she said. It made sense to investing in the hometown community that's given so much to them, Ruth Barker said. "In 2000, we first attended the annual meeting of the Community Foundation of South Wood County. We were impressed by the many scholarships, the Performing Arts Center, and the many other things accomplished by this community," Barker said. With her cousin, Gilbert, and Jaylee Mead already involved, "It was natural for us with our interest in south Wood County to want to provide opportunities that support its future." Guadalupe Ancel, a newly elected board member to the foundation, was impressed and touched by the generosity of the two families. "Hopefully, the community will see this as an opportunity to also give back," Ancel said. "We live here." "This is where (the Meads and Barkers) have chosen to make a huge contribution," she said. "It's a monetary contribution, but I also see it as a spiritual contribution. It really says a lot of the community when people come back and give, not only monetarily, but are willing to be supportive of us." The Community Foundation of South Wood County builds charitable endowments by investing donation money then distributing a portion of the interest and dividends to various projects targeted by the donors. The remaining earnings on the initial investment are reinvested for continued growth. The principal is never spent. In the last fiscal year, the foundation distributed $4.18 million in grants - including $2.5 million in the south Wood County and town of Rome area - through 642 grants that benefited 266 organizations. In addition, 142 student scholarships were given. Gifts to the foundation in the last fiscal year totaled $2.86 million and there were 22 new charitable funds created. You can reach Antoinette Rahn at 422-6726 or arahn@wisconsinrapidstribune.com.
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