Lebanon Area Foundation Endowment Funds
The Lebanon Area Foundation is a tax-exempt organization formed to receive, invest and distribute the income from gifts of capital for community betterment.
Directory of Endowment Funds
AMPL Endowment Fund
The AMPL Endowment Fund of $20,000 was the first endowment fund established in the Lebanon Area Foundation (LAF) on December 31, 1986 and was contributed by an anonymous donor. During the first few years of the LAF, the AMPL Fund was the only funding available for operational expenses. This fund is to be held in perpetuity with income only to be distributed at the discretion of the LAF Board and may be used for operational expenses.
Crosslines Endowment Fund
The Crosslines Endowment Fund totaling $110,000 was entrusted to the Lebanon Area Foundation (LAF) on December 31, 1986 by an anonymous donor to support the Crosslines Ministry. The Crosslines Ministry was formed in 1984 by the Lebanon-Laclede County Ministerial Alliance and interested community individuals. This fund provided only clothing and small amounts of food to the needy. Today, Crosslines serves those in need residing in Laclede County with a food pantry, clothing bank and emergency assistance. In 2005, Crosslines served an average of 575 families each month and served 827 new households. The emergency food pantry provided over 2,157 food orders and gave financial assistance to nearly 200 households. The Crosslines Endowment Fund is to be held in perpetuity with income only to be distributed.
Laclede County Heritage Fund
The Laclede County Heritage Fund was established April 8, 1997, and was created from the profits of the publication of the Laclede County History Book. Started in 1978, the book was compiled by several people led by Lois Roper Beard. The book contains family histories of Laclede County families and their descendants. The fund is to be used to benefit the rural youth of Laclede County.
Lebanon-Laclede County Library Board Fund
This fund was established with the Lebanon Area Foundation by the Lebanon-Laclede County Library Board t
o support the Library in its mission to provide library services that inspire, educate, entertain and inform the patrons of the library district.
The Legacy Endowment Fund
The Legacy Endowment Fund was started with the Community Endowment Fund combined with the Louise Coleman Memorial Fund. Mrs. Louise Coleman gifted over $232,000 upon her death to the Foundation. The funds are to be used for social welfare purposes. Income from this fund during the year following her death made it possible to gift over $29,000 to the Lebanon Laclede Library Building Fund.
LAF has embarked on a $2 million fund raising goal for the permanent endowment. Leadership donations of larger sums of money to establish the base are now sought as well as donations of any size.
The Legacy Endowment will be global in the Lebanon area; reaching those who serve the indigent and those in crisis on a daily basis. The endowment will use only the income generated in two manners. In good years that we achieve the goal of Community Cares, the income will be used to help start the projects needed in the community through the permanent endowment. These projects will be the bricks and mortar type projects that take many dollars to establish a program or building. Or in lean years that the target of the Community Cares is not reached, the income will be used wholly or in part to supplement the Community Cares grants.
Massey Endowment Fund
The Massey Endowment Fund was established February 7, 1995, by John W. Robert L. and Thelma Massey and their six children. The Massey fund provides scholarships from $150 to $500 for teachers to further their education. Applicants must have a valid teaching contract within Laclede County.
Homer and Lovenna Massey were in the Laclede County school system for many years. Upon their death, their children wanted to fund a scholarship to help teachers further their education, knowing the financial burden that tuition puts on a family’s finances. The principal of this fund will be held in perpetuity.
St. Johns Hospital – Lebanon Heritage Foundation Fund
The St. Johns Hospital Heritage Foundation Fund of $100,000 was given in early 2005 by the local hospital to benefit the Community Cares Program. The principal is restricted; however, the investment income is to be contributed to the Community Cares Program on an annual basis.
Veterans Memorial Fund
The Veterans Memorial Fund was established March 27, 2002 by the American Legion and VFW of Lebanon. It was created to handle the funds for the donated bricks and related expenses for the Veterans Memorial located at the Cowan Civic Center in Lebanon.
Literacy Fund
The Literacy fund was established in 1998, with additional donor funds added in 1999. The annual income from the Literacy Fund is distributed each year to the Laclede Literacy Council to assist in their mission of family literacy. In 2005, the Laclede Literacy Council assisted over 150 people with reading, writing, math, and other skills such as balancing a checkbook, or applying for a job or loan. Participants typically come from referrals and can be students, parolees, inmates or anyone else affiliated with ProLiteracy America and also has an “English as a Second Language” program.
COPE Endowment Fund
The COPE, Inc. fund was established January 25, 2006 with a $140,000 contribution. COPE, a shelter for victims of domestic violence, serves Lebanon and a five county area in central and southwest Missouri. The endowment fund serves to provide COPE with income needed to cover expenses incurred from providing shelter and other necessary services to women and their children who have suffered from abuse. COPE serves the City of Lebanon and Laclede County and the adjacent counties of Dallas, Texas, Webster and Wright. In the past year, COPE provided emergency shelter and related services to 461 women, 87 children and nine men who were victimized by domestic violence.
LHS Class of 1960 Scholarship Fund
The LHS Class of 1960 Scholarship fund was started in December 2005, as a way to give back to the Lebanon community. This fund is a perpetual scholarship fund with the goal of awarding two or three multi-year scholarships each year by 2010. The scholarship selection committee will consist of members of the Class of 1960 and the school district. Only the future income and appreciation of this fund can be distributed as the principle will be held in perpetuity.
Lebanon Arts Foundation Fund
The Lebanon Arts Foundation created an endowment fund, investing LAF in February 2008. The funds are invested with the intent to further the mission of the Arts Foundation. The mission of the Arts Foundation is to promote the enjoyment of arts in the Lebanon area. The Arts Foundation contributes funds to assist with events such as Art at the Farm and a high school production to get kids involved in extracurricular activities. They also granted funds for the Dr. Seuss 'Cat in the Hat' project and the 'Marimba' competition. The Arts Foundation Board of Directors had been considering asking LAF to administer an endowment fund for several years.
Jerry Hoover Music Scholarship Fund
Only once in a very long while does someone who truly makes a difference come into your life. For LHS Band members and students in the 1960's, it was Jerry Hoover. The sheer joy of music he imparted remains with them, even today. Mr. Hoover made it fun to make music, even when it wasn't quite perfect. And while they were having fun, he sneaked in a few other lessons about quality, pride, responsibility, attention to detail, confidence ... and success. The Jerry Hoover Scholarship was established in 2008 to pay tribute to Mr. Jerry Hoover who was band director at Lebanon High School from 1961 to 1969. During his tenure as LHS band director, the band received numerous awards and honors culminating with the LHS Marching Band representing the State of Missouri in the 1969 Presidential Inauguration Parade. Mr. Hoover is now Director of Bands at Missouri State University in Springfield, Missouri. The Jerry Hoover Scholarship Committee felt that a current LHS senior who plans to attend Missouri State University should have the opportunity to be mentored by one of the best music educators in the nation. The Jerry Hoover Scholarship is designed to extend Mr. Hoover's legacy into the future in the most appropriate way possible... by helping to fund, in his name, the education of a LHS student who wants to continue studying music.