Scott Community Foundation History

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our history begins in 1987 when Reverend Orson Evans and other local leaders started the Scott County Health Care Foundation, whose purpose was to advance the health care needs of the community. For the next 13 years, the Health Care Foundation raised nearly $400,000 through bake sales, dances, auctions, and other fundraisers.

 

Seeing a need to expand the Foundation’s mission and support for the community, in 2000 the Health Care Foundation changed its name to the Scott Community Foundation and adjusted its incorporating documents accordingly. While health care remains a significant area for Foundation activity, the new structure allows SCF to expand our philanthropic interests to include education, recreation, history, the arts, and other special projects.

 

SCF is a special type of nonprofit organization - our whole purpose for existence is to create and build endowed funds, the proceeds from which are used in perpetuity to benefit Scott County and the surrounding area. Unlike “private foundations” such as the Gates, Carnegie, and Rockefeller Foundations, the Scott Community Foundation is a “public charity.” This means we receive the majority of our assets from local individuals, organizations, and businesses.

 

Since most of our funds are generated locally, it only makes sense that local leaders decide how they are managed. To that end our volunteer Board of Trustees, comprised of Scott County leaders, guides the Foundation’s strategic direction and establishes policies for investment management, grantmaking, and operations.

 

Generous community support and sensible investment management have enabled the Scott Community Foundation endowment to reach nearly four million dollars. We will use the proceeds from these funds in perpetuity to fund postsecondary education scholarships and community projects in accordance with the donors’ intentions. Since 2000, SCF has distributed more the $450,000 for community projects, and awarded over $120,000 in scholarships to local students.