News

Non-Profit Workshop

July 31, 2018

Non-Profit Workshop On June 21, WKCF in partnership with the Finnup Foundation and the Finney County United Way offered a nonprofit capacity building workshop for local nonprofits. Forty-four people from thirty-five area organizations participated in the workshop facilitated by Wichita State University’s Community Engagement Institute. The topic of the workshop which was determined by a brief assessment of local nonprofit organizations – was fund development. Participants learned a variety of strategies for grant writing, fundraising and strategic planning that could be easily...

Annual Scholarship Reception

July 31, 2018

On June 22, the Western Kansas Community Foundation hosted its annual scholarship reception to honor both scholarship recipients, and the donors from whose funds the scholarships are awarded. In total, the Foundation awarded 42 students with scholarships from 16 different scholarship funds. In addition, the Foundation makes distributions to Garden City Community College Endowment Association from four other funds for the purpose of providing scholarships. In total, scholarship awards and distributions to provide scholarships for the 2018/2019 school year will amount to over $109,000. WKCF...

Surprise Legacy Gift Showing True Pioneer Spirit

July 20, 2018

Earlier this year, the WKCF received a $1.8M legacy gift, the largest in its 22-year history. A portion of the gift is allocated to provide permanent support for high school students in Grant County. The Anna and May Rosel Scholarship Fund, now established within the Western Kansas Community Foundation, will help educate young people for generations to come. Who were the donors who left this generous gift? Anna and her daughter May Rosel lived in Ulysses, KS most of their lives where they owned a family clothing store. The store opened in Ulysses in 1928 in a brick building owned by C.D....

March Grant Awards

July 20, 2018

$21,350.39 Awarded to 14 Organizations By Stacie Hahn, Program Officer In March, 14 local nonprofit organizations were awarded grants totaling $21,350.39 from the Community Betterment Fund, the Kansas Health Foundation Children’s Fund, and various Field of Interest and Unrestricted funds. The March grant cycle is the first of three grant cycles offered by Western Kansas Community Foundation each year. Other grant deadlines are July 1st and November 1st. For the March grant cycle, the Grants Committee reviewed 21 applications. THE AWARDS ARE AS FOLLOWS: ABC Pregnancy Care Center "...

Women of Purpose Receive Proceeds from Chuckwagon Breakfast

July 20, 2018

Chuckwagon Breakfast Check Presentation Pictured: WKCF Staff and Women of Purpose Executive Committee members receive proceeds from Beef Empire Days Chuckwagons in the Park Pancake Feed. On hand to present the donation were representatives from Commerce Bank in Garden City. On June 11, representatives of the Women of Purpose Executive Committee received a $3,000 check from Commerce Bank’s President Richard Harp and Vice-president Kirk Olomon at the Western Kansas Community Foundation. Commerce Bank is donating all the net proceeds from the popular Chuckwagon Community Breakfast which...

New Funds

July 20, 2018

Leave a Legacy Foundation Endowment Fund Permanent fund to benefit the Leave a Legacy Foundation in furthering its mission as directed by the board of directors. D&L Hewes Scholarship Fund Permanent fund to provide scholarships to graduating seniors from Gray County High Schools in Cimarron, Ingalls and Montezuma, KS. Horace Good Middle School Alumni Scholarship Fund Non-permanent fund to provide scholarships to graduating seniors who attended Horace J. Good Middle School in Garden City, KS for a minimum of 2 semesters. If you would like to learn more about setting up a fund of...

From the Desk of the Executive Director

July 20, 2018

By Conny Bogaard, Executive Director The summer is always a good time for reflection and review the goals we set at the beginning of the year. Are we following through on what we said we would do? One of the goals we set for 2018 is to explore ways to better serve the 15 counties in our area. Historically, our primary focus has been on Garden City and Finney County. This is no surprise since Garden City is the regional hub for work and business including many nonprofit organizations that apply for grants each year. These nonprofits may serve larger geographical areas such as High Plains...

Chairman's Perspective

July 20, 2018

By Kathy Diehl, Board Chair On June 22, I had the pleasure of meeting with donors, award recipients and their families at the Western Kansas Community Foundation Scholarship Reception. This annual event is held to honor our scholarship recipients and to thank many of our generous donors for their continued support. The reception allows the recipients the opportunity to meet and thank their donors in person, and for donors to meet those students who are benefiting from their generosity. Our recipients come from all walks of life, but have the same hopes and dreams. I am positive that each...

From the Desk of the Executive Director

February 8, 2018

By Conny Bogaard, Executive Director I’d like to take this opportunity to thank the many donors, organizations, legal and financial advisors, grant and scholarship recipients and community leaders who worked with WKCF in the past year. We were able to grow because of the commitments of many people to building stronger communities. On December 31, 2017, we closed our books with $29M+ in assets; we paid out $855K+ in grants and fund distributions whereas two significant trusts were bequeathed to us. Assets from the Wilmer “Bill” and Dorothea Kline Trust and the Elizabeth May Rosel Trust are...

Board Chair's Perspective

February 8, 2018

By Kathy Diehl, Chair of the Board It is hard to believe that 2017 is behind us, but it is a great time to highlight the accomplishments of the past year. With the support of the citizens of Southwest Kansas, and the vision of our staff and board members, Western Kansas Community Foundation had an exciting year. Between new funds created, additions made to existing funds and the enormous success of our first Match Day event, we were truly blessed. As I reflect back it is amazing the progress the WKCF has made not only in this last year but since the inception of this wonderful...