Local heroes will be honored through banners placed throughout the town of Lagrange in a project led by the inaugural 2021 Leadership LaGrange County class. This community action project will build pride by highlighting the contributions of those who have served our country and community.

Leadership LaGrange County is a program of the LaGrange County Economic Development Corporation. Participants attended leadership sessions aimed to train and prepare them for community engagement, economic development, and economic growth. Upon the completion of the sessions, the group was challenged to brainstorm and implement a community project. LaGrange County Hometown Heroes is supported by a $2,000 grant from the Community Foundation.

The LaGrange County Hometown Heroes banner program will make banners available for purchase that honor LaGrange County heroes including current and former military, first responders, law enforcement, and conscientious objectors. The banners will be placed in town and will hang for one year. To honor an individual, applications can be picked up at the Community Foundation, LaGrange County Economic Development Corporation, LaGrange County Chamber of Commerce, LaGrange Library, LaGrange County Planning Commission, LaGrange County Veterans Affairs Office, American Legion, and the LaGrange Town Hall.

Completed applications along with a $100* fee must be submitted by June 14, 2022, and sent to the LaGrange County Economic Development Corporation, 304 North Townline Road Suite 2, LaGrange, IN 46761.

For more information email hometownheroes.lagrange@gmail.com. Be sure to follow the story on Facebook at: LaGrange Hometown Heroes.

Want to support the Hometown Heroes program? Gifts to the LaGrange County Hometown Heroes Fund is fully tax-deductible, simply write “Hometown Heroes” in the memo line of your check to the LaGrange County Community Foundation. 

*Please make checks out to LaGrange County Community Foundation with Hometown Heroes Banners in the memo line. The $100 non-refundable fee covers the cost of the banner.

Community Foundation approves three-year strategic plan

We are pleased to introduce the next 3-year strategic plan for the LaGrange County Community Foundation. The LaGrange County Community Foundation Board of Directors and Foundation staff have worked together over several months to develop this plan.

With the assistance of Jen Pendleton from Aly Sterling Philanthropy, we hosted focus groups with LaGrange County nonprofit directors and community leaders, and surveyed key stakeholders, including donors, board members, nonprofits, community partners and volunteers in October of 2021.

Our Board of Directors and staff listened to the feedback and ideas from those conversations at our annual Board Retreat in November. We challenged ourselves to be open to new ideas, to strive for excellence, and to listen to community needs. After several months of evaluating our goals and initiatives, our Board of Directors approved the strategic plan in February 2022.

The Foundation identified four strategic areas that will guide the core of our work: Asset Development, Community Catalyst, Leadership and Strengthen Nonprofits.

• Asset Development – We will proactively raise funds to increase impact around community needs. By expanding our outreach efforts, we seek to grow funds and engage new donors in supporting charitable purposes and community needs in LaGrange County.
• Community Catalyst – We will define and develop the Foundation’s role as a community leader. Staying to true to our mission as a grantmaker, we seek to find additional opportunities for collaborative solutions and partnerships around our community’s greatest needs.
• Leadership – We will foster, recruit, and retain people, resources, and knowledge to excel in our mission. By creating a leadership pipeline in the Foundation’s board and staff, we will broaden the Foundation’s ability to meet community needs and be more effective and efficient in our work.
• Strengthen Nonprofits – We will align Foundation grant and education opportunities with nonprofit needs. By providing more resources to our local nonprofit community, we seek to build up their organizational sustainability and capacity to do more good work.

We will carry out these areas of focus by following the Foundation’s mission statement: To inspire and sustain generosity, leadership and service in LaGrange County.

We are guided by our core values: approachable, caring, catalyst, connector, empowering, trusted.

We will keep our eyes on helping generous people make a difference in LaGrange County and continue to support initiatives in LaGrange County that promote a better quality of life for all.

A new fund at the LaGrange County Community Foundation will support community efforts to improve access to early learning and childcare in LaGrange County.

The LaGrange County Early Learning Coalition Fund will support efforts underway to improve early childhood education in LaGrange County. Early learning supports the need for childcare and access to quality care, for infants, toddlers, and young children.

In 2020, Parkview LaGrange spearheaded efforts to discuss childcare needs in the community with community leaders and businesses, leading to the formation of the LaGrange County Early Learning Coalition.

The coalition includes representatives from Farmers State Bank, LaGrange County Chamber of Commerce, Parkview LaGrange, Agape Childcare Ministry, Rainbow Years Learning Ministry, LaGrange County Community Foundation, LaGrange County Economic Development Corp., LaGrange County REMC, Lakeland School Corporation, and other community leaders.

The coalition is focused on improving access to care and understanding the needs around childcare and early learning opportunities for parents, providers, and businesses.

Parkview LaGrange contributed $10,000 to launch the LaGrange County Early Learning Coalition fund. The fund will support the coalition’s efforts to improve access to childcare and allows fundraising efforts to begin.

The LaGrange County Early Coalition will address these primary goals with the fund:

• Conduct a feasibility study to determine the needs in LaGrange County for childcare and early learning facilities;
• To acquire a facility to start a childcare and early learning program; and
• To hire staff to run the facility and classrooms.

The LaGrange County Early Learning Coalition is dedicated to improving early learning in LaGrange County. We are excited to create this fund to support the needs around early learning and childcare.

Christina Blaskie, coordinator of the LaGrange County Early Learning Coalition.

To donate to the LaGrange County Early Learning Coalition Fund, visit lccf.net/donate.

LaGrange County Community Foundation received a $2.5 million gift from Howe School Board of Trustees to establish two endowments in honor of the school’s legacy.

The gift comes from the sale of the Howe Military campus after the school’s closing in 2019 – it is the largest contribution in the Foundation’s history.

Following the sale of the campus, the Howe Board of Trustees sought an opportunity to use the remaining funds to enhance the community of Howe and provide educational scholarships.

The Trustees began working with the Foundation in 2019 to identify their plans and the scope of how their charitable gift should be permanently managed. They settled on creating two endowments: the Howe Legacy Fund – a community grantmaking fund and the Howe Legacy Scholarship Fund – a scholarship fund for college, trade, or vocational education.    

The Howe Legacy Fund will support community development efforts in Howe and LaGrange County, with a significant priority on charitable projects and nonprofits in the Howe community. The Foundation will establish a committee of Howe community members who will be responsible for reviewing applications to the fund and making recommendations on philanthropic investments to the Foundation Board of Directors.

The second endowment – the Howe Legacy Scholarship Fund – will provide scholarships to the descendants of Howe School graduates and LaGrange County students pursuing post-secondary education. The core mission of Howe was education, and it resonated with the Board to carry on that vision.

It was important to us to continue the legacy of Howe School; we partnered with the Community Foundation because they understand the size and impact of this gift and could help us realize its mission.

Phil Malone, Howe School Board President

The Foundation anticipates both program funds will begin accepting applications in 2024 and make its first distributions that same year. The establishing gift will be endowed and protected; only the investment earnings will be distributed, ensuring the community and scholarship fund will have continual funding available.  

Howe Military Academy was founded in 1884 as the Howe Grammar School with a bequest by John Badlam Howe, a prominent banker, lawyer, and politician, who moved to Howe in 1833. His widow, Frances Marie Glidden Howe, took the $10,000 bequest left by John Howe, and with the help of the Episcopal church, established it as a preparatory school for young men seeking ordination in the church. The school opened in the former home of Mr. and Mrs. Howe, a Greek revival building still standing at the east end of the former campus.

The school became a military school in 1895. At its peak, Howe Military School enrollment was 458 in 1966-1967. As the climate in the world changed so did the attitude towards military prep schools, enrollment began to decline. The continuing enrollment decline and aging campus produced annual operating deficits that eventually consumed assets. The school closed in 2019, ending its remarkable 135-year history in Howe. 

We are honored to be able to offer community grants to historic Howe and provide educational scholarships to students seeking higher education. It was bittersweet for Howe School to close, and we plan to honor the legacy of the school and the vision of the school’s initial founders – John and Frances Howe – in using these funds to enhance the community of Howe and provide educational opportunities.

Octavia Yoder, Community Foundation Executive Director

LaGrange County Community Foundation is pleased to announce that we have recently received accreditation with National Standards for U.S. Community Foundations®. This accreditation, signified by the Seal shown here, indicates that LaGrange County Community Foundation meets the highest standards for philanthropic excellence.

This is a significant accomplishment. When people trust LaGrange County Community Foundation with a charitable bequest, to establish a fund, or set up an annuity, they do it knowing that we have met rigorous standards for donor services, investment management, grantmaking and administration.

Octavia Yoder, Executive Director

We’ve always worked hard to do good, right here in LaGrange County. And we’ll continue to work with you to achieve your charitable goals. National Standards ensures that we have policies in place for financial stability and longevity, affirming our continued commitment to our donors, grantees, and community.

In short: We are a proven place to give.

The process of earning National Standards accreditation is arduous. The program requires community foundations to document our policies for donor services, investments, grantmaking, and administration. Our documentation was reviewed by a community foundation expert from a panel appointed by the Community Foundations National Standards Board, a supporting organization of the Council on Foundations in Washington, D.C.

The National Standards accreditation says this house is in order. It is excellent validation of the work we do on behalf of our donors and our community.

Octavia Yoder, Executive Director

With your help, LaGrange County Community Foundation has become a more effective partner for impacting the causes you care about. Thanks for working with us.

LaGrange County Community Foundation was accredited with National Standards in September of 2021.

Since 1991, the LaGrange County Community Foundation has been a charitable partner in LaGrange County, helping connect donors to their charitable dreams and building permanent community funds.

In celebration of the Community Foundation’s 30 years, the Next 30 Years donation matching program will match one-for-one up to $30,000. The time is now, time to be intentional and compassionate, time to invest in your community for the next generation. The Next 30 Years donation matching program will run through December 31, 2021. Gifts of no more than $3,000 will be matched $1 for $1 to existing endowed funds.

A community foundation is a tax-exempt public charity serving thousands of people who share a common interest – improving the quality of life in a geographic region. Individuals, families, businesses and organizations create charitable funds that help meet those local challenges.

Our responsibility is to be a wise steward of the assets entrusted in our care. The Foundation works on behalf of donors who want to do charitable good in LaGrange County

Octavia Yoder, Executive Director

It is simple, choose from the endowment fund list that supports a passion you are interested in. If you are not sure give us a call we love to chat about what our funds support, 260-463-4363.

Each year, we are honored to shine the spotlight on volunteerism in LaGrange County. We ask the community to share the stories of people making a difference in our community and honor the volunteers through the Heart of Gold Award.

We received nine nominations for our 12th annual Heart of Gold Award. For the first time in the award’s history, the Community Foundation selected two individuals for the top volunteerism honor: Dean Domer of Wolcottville, and Shanan Staton of Mongo.

We made the surprise announcement at our Annual Meeting on August 31 at the Blue Gate Garden Inn in Shipshewana.

For the past 30 years, Dean has been volunteering for the Little League as a baseball coach, the Lion’s Club Egg Hunt, BBQ, and numerous fundraisers and events. He has served on the LaGrange County Economic Development board, Wolcottville Town Board, the Lakeland School Board, and is a member of the Wolcottville Lions Club. Dean is recognized by youth as he has served as a sports official for decades.

Shanan is an active volunteer in the Mongo and Prairie Heights community. She volunteers for the Mongo Community Development Association, summer parks programs, Stroh Little League, H.O.B.O., the Community Harvest Food Bank, Reason 4 Hope, Mongo UMC Youth Group, NELCC car show, Mongo UMC Food Pantry, and Prairie Heights Athletics and Student Council.

All nine community volunteers were honored at the Annual Meeting, though, they deserve more than recognition. The time, energy, and commitment each of the nominees put into their volunteer efforts is beyond measurable. We are truly blessed to have such kind-hearted volunteers serving our community.

2021 Heart of Gold Nominees

• Brett Bateman, Howe
• Carolyn Hostetler, LaGrange
• Dean Domer, Wolcottville
• Jamelle Godlewski, LaGrange
• Lauri Couture, Shipshewana
• Linda Simmons, Howe
• Matt Gingerich, Shipshewana
• Melissa Bateman, Howe
• Shanan Staton, Mongo

Each nominee was able to direct a $500 grant to the favorite LaGrange County charity of their choice. The Heart of Gold recipients were given the honor of directing a $1,000 grant toward their favorite charity.

Previous Heart of Gold recipients are Erica Cook, 2020; Richard Yoder, 2019; Larry Strayer, 2018; Kevin Lambright, 2017; Steve Sherck, 2016; Sue Keenan, 2015; Jack Miller, 2014; Randy Packer, 2013; Colton Strawser, 2012; Rhonda Bartlett, 2011; and Dave Clark, 2010.