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About Us - History

The Foundation was first organized on June 28, 1968, as the Greater Warsaw Community Foundation under the sponsorship of the Warsaw Chamber of Commerce. Georgia Kauffman, Robert Rasor, Joe Ettinger, Reverend Richard Anderson, and Richard Glover - Chairperson, were members of the founding Board of Directors. In 1972, Robert Gephart and Neal Carlson joined the Board of Directors. At the encouragement of Don Frantz, the Foundation was reorganized and expanded to include the entire county and renamed the Kosciusko County Foundation. Don joined the Board in 1973.

The Foundation was given new impetus when Lilly Endowment Inc. announced Giving Indiana Funds for Tomorrow (GIFT.) in 1990. At that time there were less than twelve active community foundations in Indiana. This initiative helped to establish and strengthen existing community foundations. At the end of 2000, Lilly Endowment Inc. had given $345 million in GIFT. grants and there were 96 community foundations including affiliate funds effectively serving each county in Indiana.

In preparation for Lilly Endowment challenge, Neal Carlson was selected the first, part-time executive director of the Kosciusko County Foundation. The volunteer Board of Directors was expanded to 24 members. In January 1995, Neal Carlson retired as Executive Director. Suzanne Light was named to the position.

Kosciusko County Foundation successfully met Lilly Endowment GIFT challenges in 1993 and in 1996 and in 1998. Lilly Endowment's Special Projects Grant helped to raise community awareness and to assist the Foundation in developing its grant-making philosophy and process.

Dekko Foundation was also very helpful in encouraging Kosciusko County Foundation growth, through challenge grants as well as assisting with the development of the Kosciusko Endowment Youth Services (KEYS). In 1995, fifteen students, representing the three school districts located in our county, began serving as KEYS members. The students learn leadership and team-building skills. They develop their grant-making philosophies, procedures and guidelines. KEYS grant making focuses on projects for educational purposes in our county. Currently KEYS is comprised of 20 students, an 8th grader through a 12th grader from Lakeland Christian Academy, Tippecanoe Valley, Warsaw, and Wawasee school corporations.

The Kosciusko County Community Foundation successfully completed Lilly Endowment Inc.'s GIFT V challenge in 2002 by raising $2 million for our permanent Endowment which Lilly Endowment matched. A gift of $250,000 from the Dekko Foundation along with donations from a total of 239 donors helped us reach this goal!

On July 1, 2002, the Foundation changed from trust form to corporate form. We completed the process to be incorporated in the state of Indiana and our name is now officially Kosciusko County Community Foundation, Inc.

Today, Foundation assets are more than $30 million, and last year, the Foundation granted over $1 million for charitable purposes.

Our Mission:

"By bringing caring people and charitable endeavors together, we make donor dreams shine for the good of our community. We do this by:

serving as the vehicle for donor's charitable dreams,
awarding grants to charitable projects and organizations,
and addressing community needs as a catalyst and convener."