Do you know about Community Funds?
Ken and Betty Dwiggins Community Fund
This article first appeared in the September 22nd, 2022 edition of the Davie County Enterprise Record
As you have seen over the summer months, there are many in our community who wish to change the lives of our students by investing in their education through scholarships administered by the Davie Community Foundation! These are important investments by generous people who understand the value of education.
There are other generous people in Davie County who choose to invest in our community through the foundation but do it in a much broader way. These donors create “Community Funds”. Whether the fund is unrestricted in its use or limited for use in a specific area of interest, they are the most important investments community members can make in Davie County. Because the foundation board can use the distribution of earnings from these funds to make ever changing grants to agencies, organizations, and projects in our community, they can vary as the needs and opportunities change over time.
Community Funds are especially important in times of emergency as we saw in March 2020 when COVID-19 struck. Because the distributions from Community Funds are directed by the foundation board, they were able to direct $50,000 to create the Davie County COVID-19 Relief Fund. We were joined by the Mebane Charitable Foundation who matched with another $50,000 and community members also contributed.
Grants from the fund could be made immediately to non-profit organizations hit hard by COVID. Suddenly the support for agencies had stopped, but the need for their services had exploded. In those very uncertain times, the foundation was able to respond quickly ultimately granting $125,920 to agencies and non-profit organizations! This was only possible because of the generosity of community members who had created Community Funds for Davie.
Who are some of these donors? We will meet them over the next month or two. You will recognize many of their names and faces as they are your friends and neighbors. They share a common goal of providing lasting support for their community.
Both Ken and Betty Dwiggins grew up in Davie County. They returned to the county in July 1997 after Ken retired from more than 35 years of service to Ford Motor Company. Ken wanted to share his talents with the community he loved as a child. He was quickly recruited and given the task of reorganizing the foundation that had been incorporated in December 1988 as the Davie County Foundation.
Ken, along with then Board Chairwoman Joan Carter, set the foundation in motion to follow the model of community foundations throughout the state and country. They spent months meeting with colleagues from other community foundations to understand their business model and learn more about the legal aspects of such a model. They ultimately decided that the missing piece was a staff person who would nurture and grow the foundation over time. On April 1, 2003, the board hired Jane Simpson as the foundation’s first staff. She was later named President & CEO of the organization as Ken stepped away.
Although he retired from service to the board, he and wife Betty left lasting support for Davie County through the Ken and Betty Dwiggins Fund. The distributions from their fund’s earnings have been combined with those of other Community Funds to make important investments in schools and organizations in our county for the last thirteen years.
The good news is that because the fund is endowed, invested permanently, grants will continue to be made from the fund in Davie County forever. Thank you, Ken and Betty, for your vision and your generosity! You are truly Davie County philanthropists who have given of your time, your talents, and your treasure to help our community! Thank you.
The Davie Community Foundation Inc. “inspires philanthropy to strengthen Davie County for present and future generations.” The Foundation is working to promote a spirit of giving in our community and build a permanent endowment that is invested forever. Earnings from the endowment will benefit Davie County organizations and projects that are important to you. The Foundation accepts gifts in any amount, at any time: for an existing fund, the Community Scholarship Fund, or the Davie Community Impact Fund. A variety of options for establishment of named funds in honor or memory are also available. To learn more about the Davie Community Foundation contact Jane Simpson at (336) 753-6903 or jsimpson@daviefoundation.org or visit the Foundation web-site at www.daviefoundation.org.