SOLON — Almost anywhere you look in Solon, you can find something that was made possible (at least in-part) by the Solon Area Community Foundation. And, you probably wouldn’t even know about it.
Foundations are common in many small towns as well as schools, colleges, and hospitals.
Treasurer Don Ellis explained the purpose of a foundation.
“People give these organizations (financial) gifts, and really, foundations are the gift that keeps on giving because if you let your corpus (the total money invested (gifted) to the foundation) build up, you can then invest the money and spend only the interest. You can make beneficial programs for the community (or school, or hospital, etc.) just based on the earnings.” Ellis pointed to the Solon Beef Days Foundation, which has been providing scholarships for decades as another example. “They keep that core of money together and they give away the earnings, and the earnings have done well and it’s meant a lot for students to receive.”
Its all part and parcel to establish a 501c3 tax exempt organization with the IRS, Ellis said. It’s an endeavor many want to do, but it takes effort to establish.
“Not everybody goes and gets the job done. Long ago we got an official approval and there is a reason why everybody doesn’t have it, because there are some hoops that you have to jump through. We have never had any problems with our filings or our updates or remaining qualified (as a 501c3).”
The Foundation typically disburses 5%, or $25k, of their corpus from the interest it draws. This year however, they are looking at funding nearly $30k in requests while protecting scholarship funds. “That’s the first money we give,” Ellis said. “Anything after that is secondary to those annual scholarships.”
The Foundation was formed in 1981 out of a desire to benefit Solon, Ellis said, pointing to families and individuals who care deeply about Solon and give money for the town or projects. For example, he said, there’s the late Doris Looney (1922-2007) who didn’t have any children to pass her assets onto, and thus gave it to her church and the Foundation (among other entities as well). “Her gift was substantial,” said Ellis. “We’ve been able to earmark Doris’ gift, within our assets, to fund a four-year scholarship each and every year in the name of the Doris Looney Memorial Scholarship.”
“She wasn’t sure how to give a scholarship so she turned it over to the Foundation, and the Foundation has taken care of it,” Meister added.
Don Erusha called the first organizational meeting for what became the Foundation.
“He said, ‘Folks, there’s lots of communities that have these, why doesn’t Solon?’ And it just so happened there was a need, in 1981. Of course, that need was there all along, there was a need in 1950,” Ellis recalled. “But nobody had the forethought, the vision, to make it happen. Well, Don Erusha, the president of the bank (Solon State Bank), did.” Erusha gathered leaders in the community including Ellis, Sam Stahle, Robert Mickelson, Larry Meister, and Jim Martinek.
It was important, Meister said, that the committee be representative of the Solon community as a whole. “So, we have somebody in the rural area, we have Ron Puettmann (Lake Macbride State Park), we have somebody from the school district, we have people from businesses, we have a lawyer.” In addition to Ellis, Meister, and Puettmann, the committee includes Linda Linderbaum, Jim Martinek, Shelley Kuennen, President Dennis Gruber, Kevin Shima, Cami Rasmussen, and Paula Sears. “We wanted to represent Solon,” said Meister. When a vacancy occurs on the committee, the members nominate a replacement based on which segment of the community the person leaving represents.
Much as the committee represents Solon, projects funded by the Foundation do as well ranging from entry way signs along Highway 1 to the large Solon sign at Hwy. 1 and Main Street (which unknown to many contains a time capsule from 1984), trail and playground projects at Lake Macbride State Park, to scoreboards for Spartan athletics and other donations to the school district, as well as to the Fire Department, the city, the Legion, the Solon Public Library, the Solon Senior Advocates, and the Solon Education Foundation. The Foundation also put money toward enhancing the paint job on the city’s water tower, showing their Solon pride.
The Foundation was instrumental in acquiring and grading the area that became the Solon Recreation and Nature Area (SRNA) and has made donations toward a number of improvements both at the SRNA and at Lake Macbride State Park including trail improvements and a playground.
Examples of the Foundation’s support for the Senior Advocates include$2,000 for the Old Gold Dining (now Solon Senior Dining) delivered meals program, $1,500 in 2012 for the Advocate’s senior trip program, a 2017 contribution for the Old Gold Dining Site Manager’s salary, and most recently $1,300 to complete digitization of the Solon Economist newspaper. Copies of the Economist, and its predecessors dating back to the late 1800s have been preserved through digitization.
The Foundation’s crown jewel though, is the Johnson County Freedom Rock located next to the Veterans Memorial in Legion Park.
Artist (and Republican State Representative for District 20 in SW Iowa) Ray “Bubba” Sorensen has been painting murals honoring veterans on large rocks since 1999, and now has one in each county. The Foundation made it possible for Johnson County’s Freedom Rock to be located in Solon. The two-year, $12,300 effort (2015-2017) was, “the biggest thing,” literally and figuratively, the Foundation has done, said Meister. A suitable rock was located on Kevin Shima’s farm and moved to Legion Park by Jay Proffitt before Sorensen painted it with tributes to Solon area veterans including Dean Moel and brothers Lester and Paul Pavel.
Organizations come to the Foundation and make their requests and present the merits of the project to the committee. Meister reiterated the Foundation tends to distribute $25k per year, however due to a number of factors requests for funds have increased this year to where some of next year’s money has already been spent or committed.
“Next year we won’t have $30k to spend, but we’re taking care of the big projects that need to be taken care of,” he said, including needs at the Legion, shade for the splash pad, and an illuminated sign for the new fire station. With this year’s disbursements, the total donations to the community will total $325,280.
For more information on the Foundation go to www.solanareafc.org or email [email protected].
Tax deductible contributions are always welcome and may be mailed to: Solon Area Community Foundation, P.O. Box 129, Solon, IA 52333.
Solon Area Community Foundation – A History of Accomplishments
1984 — $10,000 for Solon Municipal Sign and time capsule (Hwy. 1 and Main St.)
1989 — $24,000 for the North Shore Trail at Lake Macbride State Park
1998 — $25,000 to assist in the construction of the Solon Public Library
1999- $2,500 to begin grading at the Solon Recreation and Nature Area (SRNA)
2003 — $5,900 for construction of a playground at Lake Macbride State Park
2004 — $1,000 contribution for playground resurfacing at Lakeview Elementary
2005 — $2,300 to purchase a defibrillator for the Solon Senior Advocates van
2007 — $6,600 for construction of a new southern entryway sign on Hwy. 1
2010 — $10,000 for construction of a new northern entryway sign on Hwy. 1
2011 — $25,000 donated to defray the cost of the Spartan Stadium scoreboard
2012-13 — $4,500 donated to Solon Senior Advocates to help cover Site Manager salary
2014 — $8,000 donated toward SRNA park shelter
2016 — $5,000 donation to the City of Solon to defray enhanced water tower painting costs
2016 — $5,000 donation to Solon Education Foundation for a Steinway Baby Grand piano at the Solon Center for the Arts
2017 — $3,000 donation to Solon Senior Advocates to help cover Site Manager salary
2018 — $5,000 commitment toward improvements at Legion Field
2018 — $7,500 commitment to the Solon Splash Pad project at the SRNA
2018 — $5,000 donated for public workout equipment at the Solon High School addition
2018 — $2,310 for the purchase of the Solon Community Center sign
2018 — $4,000 donated for North Shore Trail improvements at Lake Macbride State Park
2019-21 — $30,000 commitment to the Solon Firehouse project
The best-kept secret in Solon
August 24, 2022
SACF Photo
The Solon Area Community Foundation provides donations to projects across a wide spectrum of groups and organizations, and also provides funds to the City. LEFT: An example is the $25,000 the Foundation provided for construction of the Solon Public Library. RIGHT: The Solon Area Community Foundation has committed $30,000 toward construction of the new fire station, which is nearing completion.
SACF Photo
Johnson County’s Freedom Rock, located in Legion Park and painted by Ray “Bubba” Sorensen, is the Solon Area Community Foundation’s crown jewel. The Foundation paid out $12.300 in a two-year effort for Solon to be the site for the tribute to local veterans including Dean Moel and Lester and Paul Pavel.
About the Contributor
Chris Umscheid, Editor
Chris Umscheid is the editor of the Solon Economist.