Author: tempadmin

Did you know…you can satisfy your Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) while saving taxes and supporting local charitable causes? This is an excellent opportunity to make a gift during your lifetime from an asset that could be subject to multiple levels of taxation if it remains in your taxable estate. The RMD is the smallest amount account holders must withdraw from their plans each year once they reach retirement. If you fail to meet your RMD, the amount not withdrawn could be taxed at 50%. If you have an RMD on your own account or an inherited account, donating to charity is a great option. Your required withdrawal will be included in your taxable income and cannot be rolled into other tax-deferred accounts. However, donating your RMD to a charitable organization like the Community Foundation is a Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD) and will not be taxed up to $100,000 per person. Tax benefits aside, earmarking this income for charity is a great way to begin or expand your giving portfolio to support the causes you care about. Are you 70 ½ or older? Do you have an RMD? Have you thought about how much your distribution will be this year from your account and...

If you’ve read my blog through the years, 13 blogging years to be exact, you may remember me telling you about Wardrobe Wearabouts, #nerdalert.  Don’t you love the alliteration and the punny spelling?  Wardrobe Wearabouts was an invention of mine in high school.  It all started at the North Park Mall in Marion.  You must harken back to a time when this was a bustling mall full of stores; a true destination for locals to walk, talk, shop, and eat.  It was that very mall where ‘it’ happened.   ‘It’ was unacceptable. ‘It’ was uncalled for.  ‘It’ was about to go down.  ‘It’ was seeing my sister’s best friend wearing MY sweater. (Oh, the horror.  It was a simpler time back then, what can I say?)  I veered down the corridor and vividly remember feeling the blood rushing up my neck like a thermometer in the summertime.  And, I also remember this—knowing that I would do something so ‘it’ never happened again.  As a young teen, I didn’t even like the idea of sharing clothes with my sister, but Mom said we had to.  So, I had to take matters into my own hands, found the loophole, and solved the problem...

Greetings from Indiana Wesleyan University. The end of the 2017 summer is quickly approaching, which means it won’t be long before a new class of students will be trekking their way to IWU for New Student Orientation. NSO Week is an exciting and beneficial time, not only for our freshmen but also for the surrounding Marion and Grant County community. On September 1, 2017, we will be sending out 97 groups of students and staff to compete service projects. As our school celebrates its 97th year of Christ-centered learning and living, we plan to start out the year in ministry, but we need your help! Finding a place for 97 different groups to serve is a daunting project. We are asking you to help us in identifying the needs of our community and/or within your organization, so together we might make our little corner of the world as joy-filled as possible. Here are some bullet points to keep in mind while thinking on the service projects you may be able to supply us with: Each team will consist of 4 - 8 students along with at least one IWU staff leader. Projects will make a difference in a neighborhood, for a...

[vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="full_width" angled_section="no" text_align="left" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern"][vc_column][vc_column_text] What could one kernel of grain do for Grant County? Since the Community Foundation was established in 1984, over $16.8 million has been paid back to our community in the form of grants and scholarships! And because of the Community Foundation’s endowment, these grants and scholarships will continue to be awarded each year to worthy causes in our community, forever.[/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="full_width" angled_section="no" text_align="left" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern"][vc_column width="1/12"][/vc_column][vc_column width="1/4"][vc_single_image image="22450" qode_css_animation=""][vc_column_text]Donors plant the seed by making gifts to the Foundation.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width="1/4"][vc_single_image image="22451" qode_css_animation=""][vc_column_text]Those gifts are invested; the value grows.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width="1/4"][vc_single_image image="22452" qode_css_animation=""][vc_column_text]That endowment income awards grants to charitable causes in our community.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width="1/12"][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="full_width" angled_section="no" text_align="left" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern"][vc_column][vc_empty_space][vc_column_text] Why the Grant County Farmers’ Fund? Gifts to the Community Foundation’s Grant County Farmers’ Fund are utilized to support programs, equipment, materials, and resources for local nonprofit agencies and our community’s residents. These dollars do more than just purchase needed resources: they bring people together, provide safety, serve those less fortunate, create recreational opportunities, improve aesthetics, and bring life and love to the word “community”. Donations given locally invest in our community. Your gift of grain will leave a legacy in Grant County that will live on...

Some of my favorite authors have an impeccable ability to paint pictures with their words.  Roxanne Roberts is the author/artist who created this masterpiece, which actually involves paint, and I love it so much: “Think of your life as a can of white paint. Each significant experience adds a tiny drop of color: pink for a birthday, yellow for a good report card. Worries are brown, setbacks gray. Lavender — my favorite color when I was a little girl — is for a pretty new dress. Over time, a color begins to emerge. Your personality.” This week, I, and about 10,000 of my closest friends, added a few drops of red, white, and blue to our buckets of white paint as we all overtook Gas City Park on the 4th of July.  The weather was perfection for this mid-summer Concerts in the Park/Fireworks Extravaganza.  I don’t think it’s officially called an extravaganza, but it should be!  It was a spectacular event with Adam Wakefield from The Voice opening for 80’s classic rock band .38 Special and a fireworks chaser.  They were definitely Rockin’ into the Night! And, as if that weren’t enough, they had Fair Food.  Yes, yes, I know…this kind of food...

If memory and reality become confused, perhaps that’s as it should be.  I have no idea where I first heard that phrase.  With so many different mediums entering our brains these days, it’s hard to recall the source, but I like the idea. For example, I remember the time that Griffin and a couple of friends found themselves in the most massive of pickles when they handcuffed Dalton to the bannister downstairs.  OMGEEE!  Now in many households this wouldn’t be a big deal.  Those plastic handcuffs they sell at the dollar store can be broken easily.  But, when your dad is a cop, the handcuffs are real.  I had no idea where the keys were and neither did the boys.  Barring a pair of bolt cutters, those puppies weren’t coming off without the key.  There was scurrying and problem-solving and a bit of panic.  I don’t know if they were as concerned about giving Dalton his freedom or the fact that daddy was going to be home soon.  The clock was ticking! There are still a few scuff marks on the stairwell from all the finagling they did to set Dalton free that night.  Occasionally, I notice it when I go downstairs...