by Steve Smith, Waterville Community Fund Advisor

The Waterville Community Fund has awarded $6,775 in grants to five community organizations including the Waterville Ambulance to purchase battery chargers for heart defibrillators in each of their two ambulances, Waterville School District for a prototype solar powered ice melting system, Town of Waterville for a skate park feature, Waterville Mainstreet Association for a barn art project, and Waterville Young Life for camp scholarships.

The Waterville Community Fund was started at the Community Foundation of North Central Washington in March 1989 by four families.  The idea of starting a fund was presented to long-time Waterville resident and former banker, Earle Jenkin, who gave a seed gift of $5,000 in memory of his late wife, Savena.  Others matching the Jenkin’s gift were Mrs. Hazel Dorsey in memory of her husband David Dorsey; Mrs. Genevieve Gollehon in memory of her husband Bob; and attorney Bob Hensel and his wife Jane Hensel.  A year later Mrs. Gladys Just Helmick matched the others with a gift of $5,000 in memory of her parents David and Hannah Fraser.  These five are referred to as the Founders of the Waterville Community Fund.

Since its inception in 1989, the Waterville Community Fund has distributed $94,945 in support of organizations and activities that benefit the greater Waterville community. Grants have been made for civic projects such as improving the lighting at the recycle center; to the school for the 7 Habits License and bringing the Missoula Children’s Theater to town; the arts with grants to the museum; grants to organizations that provide health and human services like Waterville Ambulance for radios or Waterville Senior Center Food Bank for new carpeting. Grants have also been made to the Badger Mountain Ski Club, NCW District Fair, Waterville Swim Team, Douglas County Cemetery District, and others.

The Waterville Community Fund is a component fund of the Community Foundation of North Central Washington. The fund is a Donor Advised Fund which means that a named group of citizens serve as an Advisory Committee. The Advisory Committee, made up of a cross-section of Waterville community representatives, review the applications for grants and make recommendations to the Board of Trustees of the Community Foundation. The key to the Waterville Community Fund is that it does not stress short-term fundraising but rather is an endowment fund. The principal is never spent, only a portion of the earnings is paid out in the form of grants in perpetuity. The fund currently has approximately $145,000 in principal, and distributes 5% of a five year rolling average of its principal each year.

The Waterville Community Fund is a tremendous asset to the community. As the principal grows, so too will the annual distributions to benefit the community. Donations and memorials to the fund are welcomed any time. Please feel free to contact Jennifer Dolge, Communications Director for the Community Foundation of North Central Washington, at Jennifer@cfncw.org, with any questions you might have about the fund, grant applications, and to make a donation.