CURRENT NEWS/PRESS RELEASES

B&B Metal Arts Seeks Sponsors, Work on World Trade Center Memorials Underway

Hoisington, KS: The word is out – Bruce Bitter of B&B Metal Arts was chosen to create the World Trade Center memorials to be placed in seven Kansas airports to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 event that shaped our world.

The memorial art pieces are being made of stainless steel and incorporate a section of I-beam that came from the World Trade Center in New York. The I-beam, an official artifact, was given to the Transportation Security Administration of Kansas. Memorial art pieces will be installed at the Wichita, Great Bend, Manhattan, Liberal, Dodge City, Garden City, and Hays airports. Bruce and Brent Bitter of B&B Metal Arts are donating their design and artist time. TSA is allowing B&B Metal Arts to seek sponsors to pay for the materials and other out-of-pocket expenses required for the project. Companies wanting to support this important memorial project, and have their names listed on the sponsor plaques, should contact Anita Hoffhines at 785-531-0160.

Sponsors in Garden City will be allowed to make their contributions through the Western Kansas Community Foundation and will be tax deductible. The dedication of the memorial will be in September at Garden City airport. A preview of the memorial will be held on August 17th in Hoisington.

Rachelle Power, Garden City Airport, is excited about the project. “It’s an honor for the residents of southwestern Kansas to receive an authentic piece of the World Trade Center to remind us of the devastation of 9/11. The Garden City Airport will be proud to house this artifact at a special location inside the airport terminal building.” The memorials will be the first and only known air terminals in our country to publicly display a former World Trade Center artifact. Brad Christopher of the Wichita Airport Authority said “The presence of this piece should cause us all to reflect on a sad but important period if our Country’s history, and help us all to be attentive and mindful of the importance of our sustained security mission.” B&B Metal Arts memorial design includes the words “WE WILL NEVER FORGET” and inspires us, as Bruce Bitter said, to “keep going on, just as the eagle flies onward.”

Western Kansas Community Foundation Selected For GROW II

Garden City, Kan. – Western Kansas Community Foundation (WKCF) is pleased to announce that the Kansas Health Foundation recently selected us to participate in the second chapter of the Giving Resources to Our World Healthy Kansas Initiative (GROW II). Our foundation is being challenged to raise endowment dollars that will be matched by the Kansas Health Foundation up to $600,000. If we are successful in our fundraising efforts, we will raise over $2,600,000 for the betterment of our community. This local money will stay local.

“We are honored to have been chosen to participate in the GROW II program through the Kansas Health Foundation. This program will continue to strengthen our role as a community convener and catalyst for positive change in southwest Kansas while also growing the Foundation’s permanent funds to benefit area initiatives,” said Shea Sinclair, Executive Director of the Western Kansas Community Foundation.

The mission of the WKCF is to enrich western Kansas through philanthropy, collaboration and leadership. For more information on our foundation or to learn how to make a donation that will make a lasting difference in our community, please contact us at 620-271-9484 or wkcf.org.

GROW II is focused on strengthening the community foundation field in Kansas and building endowments to underwrite solutions to local health issues.

“We look forward to this new phase of helping community foundations across Kansas grow into healthy, thriving sources of help that will stand the test of time,” says Steve Coen, president and CEO of the Kansas Health Foundation.

In addition to the matching endowed grant, our community foundation will receive training, one- on-one consulting and support and, if we meet certain benchmarks, an operating grant of 3.5 percent of the matching grant awarded by the Kansas Health Foundation on an annual basis for six years.

Twelve additional community foundations across Kansas have also been chosen to participate in the second round of GROW II. In 2009, 12 Kansas community foundations were chosen for the first round of GROW II.

The Kansas Health Foundation will include additional community foundations in the GROW II program in 2011. The Kansas Health Foundation started working with community foundations across Kansas in 1999 as a way to further its mission of improving the health of all Kansans. The Foundation believes that strong community foundations build healthier communities. Following the first 10 years of this program (GROW I), the participating community foundations increased their assets from $19 million to about $95 million and provided $33 million in grants to their communities. GROW II will spread the benefits of strong community foundations to many more areas of Kansas.

 

WKCF Achieves National Standards Designation

The Good Housekeeping Seal indicates those products meeting the Good Housekeeping Institute’s tough consumer policy.  The American Dental Association awards products that have met the ADA’s criteria for safety and effectiveness with its Seal of Approval.  The Energy Star designates those products and services meeting high standards of energy efficiency.

        

These third-party marks attest to the evaluation, testing and endorsement of products and services.  As a safeguard against puffed-up promises, empty claims and hollow slogans, each validation provides assurance and inspires trust.

Now, community foundations have their own “seal of approval.”

The Western Kansas Community Foundation (WKCF) is displaying it with pride.  The National Standards Seal shown above signifies that WKCF has met rigorous National Standards and has demonstrated its commitment to financial security, transparency and accountability.

“This is critically important to our donors” said Tom Walker, WKCF board president.  “When people use WKCF to make a charitable bequest or establish a fund, they do it knowing that we have met standards for donor services, investment management, grant making and administration.”

The process of meeting National Standards is arduous, even by community foundation standards.  The program requires community foundations to document their policies for donor services, investments, grant making and administration.  Documentation is then reviewed by a national panel of community foundation experts, appointed by the Council on Foundations in

Washington, D.C.  WKCF was confirmed in compliance with National Standards in November 2008.

“The National Standards Seal says this house is in order” noted Tom Walker.  “It is excellent validation of the work we do on behalf of our donors and our community.”

 

Dorothy Wampler Leaves Significant Gift to Finney County Library 

The Western Kansas Community Foundation (WKCF) was honored to learn of an estate gift from longtime Garden City resident Dorothy Wampler to benefit the Finney County Library.  The gift was announced to the WKCF board by Kirk Olomon, Sr. Vice President of The Commerce Trust Company, who is the trustee of the Dorothy Wampler Trust. 

Dorothy’s lifelong love of reading, learning and teaching lead to her decision to leave a bequest of over 1 million dollars to the WKCF that will setup a designated fund to benefit the Children’s Library within the Finney County Library.  The fund will be named the Dorothy M. and Louise Wampler Finney County Public Library Fund.  Through Dorothy’s estate gift the Wampler family will continue to benefit and support reading and learning initiatives for area children.

“Dorothy’s amazing legacy gift demonstrated her belief in the Western Kansas Community Foundation to support the mission of the library in perpetuity.  Her interest in giving back to the community will assist the library in offering programs and opportunities to learn for a very long time”, said Shea Sinclair, Executive Director of the Western Kansas Community Foundation.

“The Library is very pleased that Miss Wampler chose to support the County’s cultural center in this way.  The establishment of this fund for the Library will benefit all future generations of young people in the community”, stated Rocky Cook, President of the Finney County Library Board of Directors, adding, “Miss Wampler’s gift is a truly wonderful legacy”.

Dorothy Wampler was born in Garden City on February 29, 1917.  Her parents were Erastus O. “Ras” and Lelia E. “Dot” Wampler, who met in Brazilton, Kansas.  They were married on October 31, 1905.  Two years later they moved to Garden City and lived at 710 N. Seventh Street.  E.O. engaged in ranching, farming, and banking.  He worked at Fidelity State Bank from 1924 to 1928.  He then served as a bank director along with Frank Reed, Bryant Garnand, E.W. Ross, A.B. Warden, P.A. Lindner and George Finnup.  This board kept the Fidelity State Bank stable during the years of the Great Depression.

As a child, Dorothy attended kindergarten in the Carnegie Library and then attended Garfield Elementary School.  She graduated from Garden City High School in 1935 and from Garden City Junior College in 1937.  She went on to attend Emporia State Teachers’ College and Greeley Teachers’ College.  She taught school in several locations including a country school near Cimarron and ten years in Dodge City, but remembers the four years spent teaching in Goodland, Kansas as the happiest of her life.

After a teaching career that spanned 26 years, Dorothy retired in 1966 and lived with her sister Louise in the family home in Garden City.  In 1998, she donated the funds to build Dorothy’s Children’s Library at the Finney County Public Library in memory of her parents and often read stories to children during story time.  An avid quilter, she pieced over 50 quilts.  Dorothy also enjoyed playing cards and watching sports, especially baseball.  Dorothy passed away June 18, 2008.

 

Bright Future Ahead For Community Foundation

The Western Kansas Community Foundation (WKCF) is celebrating a milestone in its twelve year history.  Since 1996, when the Foundation was formed, the group has used donated office space to conduct business.  Their first office was on West Fulton, graciously donated by The Garden City Company.  For the past eight years, Western State Bank was very generous in offering space inside the bank for the Foundation’s office.  Over these years, the Foundation experienced phenomenal growth in total assets through the tremendous generosity of donors who have embraced the community foundation concept.

An opportunity presented by the Kansas Health Foundation (KHF) helped open the door to the WKCF in making the move to its new permanent home in downtown Garden City at 402 N. Main Street.  The WKCF applied for and received a $50,000 technology grant from the KHF.  These funds were used to purchase technology equipment for office use including computers, monitors, and copier and most importantly a new software system called Financial Information Management Software (FIMS).  The new software will allow the Foundation to offer diversified investment and donation strategies to donors interested in using their own investment managers when making gifts to the Foundation.  Other funding for the project came from reserve funds that had accumulated over the years as a result of planning for future growth of the foundation.

Lee Stapleton, WKCF board chairman noted, “We are thankful for the positive response to our new office location on Main Street.  We will now be able to offer donors interested in supporting deserving causes in our area or simply providing for the overall betterment of our Western Kansas community more options in their donation considerations as well as easier access to our office, staff and programs.”

A ribbon cutting and grand opening celebration is planned for Thursday, September 18^th from 5:00 to 7:00pm.  The WKCF board of directors would like to invite the community to tour the new office and learn more about the various ways to support our community through charitable giving.

“Our growth over the years has been tremendous and we want to take this opportunity to say thank you to our donors and supporters.  We are truly grateful to those local people and businesses who, through foresight and planning set up funds, which allow them to give back to their favorite charities in perpetuity or simply to make the area a better place to live, work and raise a family.”,  said Shea Sinclair, WKCF executive director.

The Western Kansas Community Foundation was formed in 1996 to assist donors with their charitable wishes throughout Western Kansas.  Since that time, the foundation has expanded its role regarding grant making; now granting four times per year, successfully meeting matching grant opportunities, collaborating with area funding partners and hosting community conversations.  Over the last twelve years, assets have grown to 11.5 million dollars.  The organization has given 1.5 million dollars back to the community in the form of grants, reinvesting in the future of the area per the wishes of its donors.

The Foundation is governed by a twenty member board of directors including residents from Gray, Grant, Haskell and Finney Counties.  Officers for the 2008 year are Lee Stapleton, Chairman, Dale J. Gabel, Vice Chairman, Carolyn Myers, Secretary, Tom Walker, Treasurer and Betty Benson, board advisor.  Additional information is available on their website at www.wkcf.org.