HLOCF Newsletter

          Heron Lake-Okabena Community Foundation                                                                                     JANUARY 2010

The Beginning—To create a legacy of pride and partnership….

        It started with an idea!  Community members from Heron Lake and Okabena founded the Heron Lake-Okabena Community Foundation (HLOCF) in 2001.  Under the leadership of the Southwest Initiative Foundation (SWIF), the HLOCF developed a mission statement and organized as a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization.  “SWIF is an independent, nonprofit organization whose mission is to be a catalyst facilitating opportunities for economic, social, and cultural growth by promotion of philanthropy, leadership, innovation and collaboration in southwest Minnesota.”

        The exclusive purpose of the HLOCF is to solicit funds and award grants to organizations that promote education and opportunities that enrich the communities of Heron Lake and Okabena.  Funds are raised through fundraisers, donations, mass mailings, memorials and charitable gifting.

        The evolution of the Foundation Board has brought about an evolution of the original mission statement.  We did some brainstorming and clarified the goals and objectives of the Foundation while still keeping the original focus of our mission in tact.

        OUR MISSION STATEMENT:  “To enrich the community by promoting education and opportunities in the hope of creating a legacy of pride and partnership.”

Reaching the Goal of $100,000!

        Matching funds of $25,000 from SWIF was incentive enough to get the fundraising ball rolling.

        After a lot of discussion, we sponsored our first dinner and silent auction in March of 2003.  With tremendous support from the community, we raised $5,800.  We were amazed at our success, and quickly decided to sponsor a second dinner and silent auction in March, 2004.  Again, the strong support of our communities made the event a huge success.  Sales of dinner tickets and auction items ranging from the “Okabena” fireplace, to theme baskets, to homemade quilts, to plane rides, to backhoe work, to sports memorabilia raised $7,000.  This event has become a much anticipated annual happening in our communities evolving into a social time with hors d’ouerves, wine, and cash bar replacing the sit-down dinner.  As of April, 2009, a total of $44,519 has been raised and added to our endowment fund.

        The love of the game by some board members resulted in a Best Shot Golf Tourney in September, 2004 at Emerald Valley in Lakefield, MN.  Nineteen sponsors paid $100 each to sponsor a hole and 50 golfers enjoyed the warm September afternoon playing golf.  The tournament netted another $2,711.  The golf tourney has also become an annual event and through September, 2009 has raised $13,554 for our endowment fund and a special project fund.  Combining those funds with the memorials and donations received, we met our first goal of raising $25,000.  With some matching funds from SWIF, we have over $102,000 in our endowment fund and over $4200 in our special project granting fund.

        By working together, we have been successful.  We are thankful for the support and trust that the people of the Heron Lake and Okabena communities have given us.

The Funds

        The HLOCF is a related component fund of SWIF.  SWIF is an independent, nonprofit foundation servicing 18 counties in southwest Minnesota, and its 501(c)3 public charity status extends to the HLOCF, which allows gifts to be tax-deductible.

         SWIF owns and manages the assets, provides investment expertise and administrative support, and technical assistance around fundraising, marketing, and grant making to our local board.  All funds raised by the HLOCF will exclusively benefit our communities forever!

        HLOCF has three funds.  The first is its endowment fund, which is a fund that is kept in perpetuity to provide an ongoing stream of revenue generated by the investment of principal.  That may seem confusing, so more simply put, an endowment is like a savings account.  The principal is invested and never spent—only the income is used to distribute to qualifying projects within the community.  The stronger our endowment fund, the more resources we have available to invest back into the community now and in the future. 

        The second fund is an operating fund which is used to cover our expenses such as advertising, mailing, etc. and is kept to a minimum.

        The third fund is a special project fund which has been established to help in our granting process this year.  All gifts that are designated to this project fund are spent in their entirety for immediate needs in the community.  Because of the weak market conditions this past year, we are taking advantage of this special project fund to add more granting dollars.  SWIF has set up a matching funds grant which we have taken advantage of and will be able to add $1350 to this granting fund.

        Our endowment fund is a long-term strategy…it provides dollars now and in the future to invest back into the community.  And our project fund helps meet current needs because the entire dollar is used for immediate needs.  Whatever your preference, the need is now and the opportunity is within your reach!  Gifts of all sizes are welcome and truly appreciated.

 Grants Awarded

        Grants are awarded on a yearly schedule.  Grant application deadline is January 15 of each year with grants awarded at our Silent Auction/Social event held in March or April.  Grant guidelines, application forms and the rubric the board uses to process the grant applications are all available online at www.heronlakecity.org or www.okabena.org .

        Since our first round of granting in 2005 of $600 each to Narrow Path Youth Ministry for its programs and North Heron Lake Game Producers for books purchased for the SSC and Public libraries, we have granted $14,744 back to our communities.  These monies have been used to add equipment to the Wellness Center, help purchase park equipment in Okabena, landscape around the new lift/entrance to the Heron Lake Public Library, provided a batting cage for SWU baseball, helped the Women of Today, the Heron Lake EMTs, assist several class projects at the local schools and purchase much needed equipment for the Heron Lake Day Care Center and the SSC Flag Squad.

Where Can You Find Us?

        The current HLOCF Board includes Collette Diemer, chair; Jim Schneider, co-chair; Mitz Diemer, secretary; Becky Cselovszki, treasurer; Jackie Baumgard; John Hay; Harvey Kruger; Cindy Owen; Terri Pelzel; Bardene Peter; Annie Rasche; and Julianne Volk.  To visit our website, click on the Heron Lake-Okabena Foundation link at www.heronlakecity.org or www.okabena.org.  The SWIF website is www.swifoundation.org.

        What are your ideas?  Let’s put them in motion.  Let’s work together to build stronger communities.  If you have an idea, let us know.  If you are interested in becoming a member of the Board, contact us.

HLOCF Silent Auction - March 20, 2010
HLOCF History
Community Foundation Program
HLOCF
Heron Lake-Okabena Community Foundation Grant Guidelines and Application For