Hardin County Community Endowment Foundation reports funds, grants and new board representative

A representative of the Hardin County Community Endowment Foundation presented an annual report to the Hardin County Board of Supervisors on Jan. 28, outlining funds, grant activity and local priorities.

The presenter said the foundation manages multiple designated funds — including the Schiller fund (for Iowa Falls and Alden) and the Wilma Mayer fund (Iowa Falls, Alden and Ackley) — and expects the county endowment allocation to be about $106,000 this year. The presenter estimated the foundation will distribute more than $350,000 to local projects in the coming cycle, characterizing that total as approximate.

The foundation highlighted a Hardin County disaster recovery fund it established with an initial board contribution of $10,000 about five years ago, and permanent funds that support the county emergency squad and local libraries. The presenter said the group worked with Time Citizen to print an annual brochure and that brochures will be available across county libraries.

The foundation announced that Deb Cross will serve as the foundation’s representative from the Board of Supervisors, as provided in the foundation bylaws.

Separately, Wes (speaking later in the meeting) said he is finalizing a grant application to hardscape the north side of a lodge (a patio area), that he needs numeric cost estimates to complete the application and that he will return next week seeking a resolution for fiscal sponsorship. Wes said contractors are finishing the lodge and the facility hopes to host a first event April 9. He also said the Department of Natural Resources has removed trees on the riverbank as part of a dam-lowering/removal process he was told will take about three years.

The presentation was informational; supervisors did not take formal action on the foundation report during the meeting.