Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, May 27, 1995 TAG: 9505310042
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-6 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: LISA APPLEGATE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
The group's goal is to collect donations and establish an endowment that will funnel money back into cultural, educational, health and other projects to help the community.
There is a great deal of wealth in the valley waiting to be channeled into a philanthropic clearinghouse, said Joel Williams, a board member and local financial planner.
Much of that money will roll over from an older generation to a younger one in the next 10 years, he said. As a clearinghouse for tax-deductible donations, the foundation can help people plan ahead and manage their estates to reduce the bite of taxes.
"People are going to need mechanisms for their money," said, Williams, "and the best thing we can do is let them know about [the foundation] through word of mouth.
The foundation's board held its first meeting Thursday, inviting service agencies, such as the United Way, to attend.
The board's message to agency representatives: You are an integral link in communicating the foundation's role to the public.
"First and foremost," Williams explained to the crowd at a community meeting Thursday, "we are a vehicle for donors."
The first community foundation was developed in Ohio in 1914. In the last decade chapter growth has increased considerably, reaching more than 400 foundations across the country.
"We will be the wealthiest generation for the next 60 or 70 years," Williams said. "Future generations that will benefit from [the foundation] won't have the opportunities we have to contribute."
It's that kind of wealth agencies like the United Way aren't tapping into.
"You fund raise a certain portion of the community that United Way doesn't deal with," said Susan Roop-Dalrympale, director of United Way in Pulaski County.
Mark Cruise, executive director of the Free Clinic of the New River Valley, said with skyrocketing health care costs, the foundation will be used.
"I think it's safe to say we'll be looking to the foundation in terms of leadership and monetary support," he said.
Foundation President Lindsay West said the group has not gone out to solicit funds yet, but people have expressed an interest in donating.
Board member Ruth Horton said the benefit of a foundation is that the contributed money stays within this area.
"We clean our own back door first, and then we can go elsewhere," she said.
After the discussion, new officers and board members for 1995-96 were elected.
West, who is active in community and political affairs in Montgomery County, will continue as president; Bill Dawson of Pulaski will be vice president; Ben Crawford of Radford, who is on the staff at Virginia Tech, will serve as secretary; and Don Michelsen, a Blacksburg engineer, was named treasurer.
Two additional board members were added.
Kent Bond, of Christiansburg is a registered investment adviser and serves on the board of the Christiansburg-Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce.
James Cole is the director of business affairs and controller for Virginia Tech Foundation and lives in Shawsville.
by CNB