By Kim McDarison
Coupled in 2023 with the celebration of its 50th anniversary, the Fort Atkinson Community Foundation has announced it will be launching the Bur Oak Legacy Society.
The society will focus on donors, who, according to information released by the foundation, are “the real heroes behind the foundation.”
They are the donors who would like to make a lasting impact on the city of Fort Atkinson by including the foundation in their will, trust or estate plan, the information stated.
Fort Atkinson’s community foundation was formed in 1973, according to its Executive Director Sue Hartwick. It began with a single gift made by a community member of $25,000.
The donor stipulated that the money would be used to “benefit the future of Fort Atkinson,” Hartwick said.
Inspired by the gift, the foundation was formed to pool charitable resources together with a goal of enhancing the quality of life in Fort Atkinson “forever,” she added.
Since its inception, the foundation has invested more than $23.4 million in the community through grants and scholarships, and has grown the foundation’s total assets to $32 million, Hartwick said.
Among projects funded by the foundation are the community’s bike path, riverwalk, aquatic center, skate park, Hoard Historical Museum and the Dwight Foster Public Library.
According to Hartwick, those interested in learning more about the Bur Oak Legacy Society, including information about becoming a member, will soon find a page on the foundation’s website.
She anticipates the page will be available for viewing early in 2023, she said.
Citing the name chosen for the new society, Fort Atkinson Community Foundation Chairman Loren Gray said the Bur Oak, which he described as an “iconic oak tree in Wisconsin,” is representative of the foundation’s values.
“Like the foundation, the Bur Oak is long-lived. Its deep roots allow it to tolerate drought and it is resistant to air pollution and heat stress. In addition, the Bur Oak adds great value to the neighborhood, providing dense shade, shelter, and food for those who count on it. We have many Bur Oaks in Fort Atkinson, most notably, the grove in Jones Park. We view the people who make a legacy gift to the foundation as our very own Bur Oaks,” Gray said.
Said Hartwick: “We hope people who might be remembering the foundation in their estate plans will let us know so we can honor them in the Bur Oak Society, and we hope others will consider including us in their financial plan and thereby provide support to the causes and organizations they care about for years to come.”
She noted that new members would join the first four Bur Oak Society members — Ted and Marilyn Batterman, Doug and Marianna Dexter, John G. Slater, and Jim and Lee Vance — whose legacy gifts were recently realized.
“I’m hoping to have some great conversations with new Bur Oak members about the impact they’d like their legacy gift to make,” Hartwick said.
Those interested in pledging their support more immediately can contact Hartwick by phone: 920-563-3210 or email: facf@fortfoundation.org.
Additionally the BASE Community Building Fund, Classroom Teacher Wish Fund, Dwight Foster Library Fund, Fort Atkinson Club Community Fund, Fort Atkinson Food Pantry Fund, Fort Atkinson Historical Society Fund, Friends of Haumerson’s Pond Fund, Friends of McCoy Park Fund, Hoard Curtis Scout Camp Fund and the Lorine Niedecker Fund, among others, remain available as avenues through which donors can support the community.
A full list of funds is available at fortfoundation.org/funds.
In 1973, Hartwick said, the foundation’s original board members included Al Haukom, Milo Jones, Mark Kerschensteiner, Milt Lorman, and Robert Martin.
In 2023, she said, the board will consist of Chairman Sue Johnson, Vice-chairman Sally Koehler, Treasurer Lisa Caras, Secretary Jim Schulenburg and new director Bonnie Geyer.
2021-22 impact report
According to information shared in the foundation’s 2021-22 Impact Report, the foundation received $1.7 million in gifts. It awarded some $415,450 in scholarships — which it described as a “record amount” — of which $315,378 has been distributed. Additionally, some $285,241 was awarded in grants to nonprofits.
Looking more closely at scholarships, the report noted that 116 scholarships were awarded to 85 local students.
According to the report, of those students, 46 were graduating high school seniors enrolled in undergraduate or vocational tech programs, 19 were continuing undergraduate students, 17 were graduate students, and three were returning vocational tech students.
Two new scholarship funds were begun last year, including the Denice Jones Medical Fields Scholarship, awarded to students looking to pursue a career in a medical field and help improve the health of the community, and the Terry Beck Protective Services Scholarship, created in honor of the service of a U.S. Marine dog handler and his K-9 partner both of whom were killed in action during the Vietnam War. The scholarship is awarded to a student entering the field of protective services.
Citing the difference scholarships can make, Gray wrote: “Scholarships do more than help pay tuition. They build confidence and leave a lasting impression on students about the power of generosity, a lesson they then carry forward in their own lives.”
Additionally, the report pointed to the “Making Fort Special” award. In 2021, the recipients were Chris Spangler, former longtime managing editor of the Daily Jefferson County Union; Michael Clish, a longtime radio personality at WFAW, and Rudy Bushcott, a longtime assistant city engineer.
The three were chosen for the award in honor of having spent “most of their adult life helping to make Fort Atkinson a special place to live,” the report noted.
The report also pointed to several designated funds, which it described as those set up for “targeted, intentional giving,” focusing on such funds and their associated projects as Friends of McCoy Park, with those resource used to purchase annual flag replacements; the Ernie Pope Memorial Art Fund, which was used to support prizes awarded at the annual show; the Dwight Foster Library Fund, which was used to build a Storywalk in Ralph Park; a Fort Atkinson Parks and Recreation Fund, which was used to perform resurfacing and make improvements to eight tennis courts in Rock River Park, and monies within a Fort Tree Fund, which were used to help replace trees lost to Emerald Ash Borer, among others.
The stories of community members who helped identify projects and finance the funds are told within the report.
Under a heading of “Community Grants at Work,” the report showcases funding that was used to place security cameras in the community’s parks, purchase dental sensors for the Rock River Community Clinic, and, at the Fort Atkinson High School, purchase new mills and lathes for the tech ed department and a new sound board in the performing arts center.
Also discussed within the report are charitable gifts given by Linda and Ron Ott, and the late Jim Vance.
According to the report, in June, the Otts donated a “generous” gift to the foundation for use within its general fund. The report noted that the general fund “gives our directors the most flexibility in responding to the changing needs of our community.”
Remembering Vance, the report noted that upon his death in September of 2021, he included the foundation in his estate plan, giving a total of $600,000, with $400,000 of those funds earmarked to support a scholarship fund set up with his late wife, Lee, and $200,000 earmarked to help support the Fort Atkinson Club in the city’s downtown area.
The report includes a full list of funds, a financial report and instructions for making donations and creating a fund.
The full report is found on the homepage of the foundation’s website: https://fortfoundation.org.
Fort Atkinson Community Foundation Executive Director Sue Hartwick, at left, and Fort Atkinson Community Foundation Board of Directors Chairman Loren Gray visit the Dwight Foster Public Library. Both pointed to the library as representative of the kind of lasting impact the foundation’s donors have made and the foundational benefit to the community those who donate continue to make. Kim McDarison photo.
Click on the arrow above to watch an edition of “What’s up? with Michael Clish,” during which Michael and his guests, Sue Hartwick, executive director of the Fort Atkinson Community Foundation, and Eric Robinson, director of the Dwight Foster Public Library, Fort Atkinson, discuss the foundation’s funds, structure, application process and opportunities to receive funding for public projects. The Fort Atkinson Online-produced video is created in partnership with McDarison Productions.
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