Foundation awards nearly $200,000 to 33 groups

FAIRFIELD – The Greater Jefferson County Foundation held its annual grant awards presentation on Thursday, Aug. 15, at the Fairfield Arts & Convention Center.

Foundation president Kara Waugh welcomed the guests in attendance. She spoke about how the foundation has been in existence since 1975, 'when a group of far-seeing individuals formed this foundation for the benefit of the greater community of Jefferson County, Iowa.”

The foundation began dispersing grants in 1999 when it awarded local profits a sum of nearly $71,000. Twenty years later, the foundation has more than doubled its allocation, awarding $197,000 to 33 organizations this year, all of which benefit Jefferson County residents.

In addition to its annual grants, the foundation awards 39 scholarships every year, and acts as a pass-through 12 company scholarships. In 2019, the total amount of scholarships awarded was $117,524.

'We deeply appreciate the generous scholarship donations that began in 1988 to assist and benefit our graduating seniors with their future education,” Waugh said.

Grant recipients

Following is a list of the grant recipients and what the grant will purchase for each entity

Arc of Jefferson County – annual disbursal

African Violet Foundation – laptop, copier/printer/software and clothing

Batavia Betterment – playground fencing

Batavia Volunteer Fire Department – Bauer Legacy 13 CFRM compressor

Carnegie Historical Museum – elevator repair and red display frames

Carry On Bags – food disbursal

Community ChildCare – replace tile floor

Fairfield Beautification Commission – hanging basket project

Fairfield Chamber of Commerce – four resin Christmas Nutcracker statues

Fairfield Convention & Visitors Bureau – two downtown tourism kiosks

Fairfield Fire Department – new slide for fire suppression unit

Fairfield Girl Scouts – concrete shelter floor and one last window

Fairfield Middle School – Leader in Me training

FairField Productions – production expenses

Fairfield ReStore – new signage

Family Crisis Center – safe house rent

Fairfield First Fridays – smart TV, AV cart and iPad

Food Bank of Iowa – refrigerated trucks for food delivery

Friends of FACC – three ADA accessible doors

Jefferson County Health Center Clinics – Welch Allyn Spot Vision Screener

Jefferson County 4-H Youth Committee – 4-H T-shirts, state fair beef show and awards night expenses

Jefferson County Health Center – VHF four-channel portable radios and microphones

Jefferson County Little League – new scoreboards

Libertyville Childcare – new roof

Lockridge Fire & Rescue – radio and replacement pager

Locust Grove Township – repair of six pioneer cemeteries

Maasdam Barns – new paddock

McElhinny Foundation – rain gutter replacement

Moyer Cemetery – stone resetting, new fence and concrete bench

Park & Rec Foundation – Howard Park Playground Equipment

Parsons College Alumni Association – Fairfield Underground Railroad Project

Pekin Child Care – iPads for daily recordkeeping

Pekin Community School District – Two AEDs

Singing Cedars School – HVAC system

TENCO Industries – computers, monitors, software and furniture

The board

The foundation's board of directors consists of 15 board members, who serve on seven committees: scholarship, capital and operational grants, finance, nominations, public relations and by-laws. Board members serve two three-year terms.

In addition to Waugh serving as president, the rest of the board officers are:

' Vice president: Tammy Dunbar

' Treasurer: Arvin Bogaards

' Executive secretary: Sim Buckley

Board members are:

' Angie Atwood

' Frank Redeker

' Jessica Jones

' Ron Haines

' Nelson Anderson

' Ashley Manning

' Joan Fulton

' Justin Engwall

' Lori Stever

' Lucas Helling

' Peggy Mottet

Ex-officio board members:

' Public relations: Dave Neff

' Legal: John Morrissey

' Finance: William Baumann