Golden Belt Community Foundation

November 2010

INCREDIBLE YEARS PRESCHOOL ENDOWMENT ESTABLISHED

Two Rush County families have made donations and are challenging their central Kansas neighbors to help build a scholarship fund for students at Incredible Years Preschool. The families have chosen to remain anonymous.

Incredible Years, 1312 Patton, Great Bend, is owned and operated by Sunflower Diversified Services. It is open to any child ages 2-and-a-half to 5.

The Rush County residents have collaborated with Sunflower and the Golden Belt Community Foundation (GBCF) to start the endowment with $1,500.

“These gracious donors saw a need to support this most worthy cause,” said Christy Tustin, GBCF executive director. “They are aware of the quality education at incredible Years and want to help children who might not otherwise be able to afford tuition.”

The GBCF will administer this endowment, which is one of the first for Rush County. When it reaches the $5,000 mark, the GBCF can begin funding scholarships. “Once it reaches this level,” Tustin explained, “the fund annually will provide a grant of up to 5 percent of the fund’s total. And each year, staff members at Incredible Years and Sunflower will review applications and choose recipients.”

The donors have specified that the fund focus on Rush County children. However, if a Rush County child is not identified through the application process, the fund could be used to help others in Sunflower’s service area, which also includes Barton, Pawnee, Rice and Stafford counties.

“Many families support their favorite organizations through our community foundation because their donations will essentially last forever,” Tustin noted. “In addition, their contributions are invested with others to maximize the return on investments. We are so pleased to be working with Rush County families and Incredible Years to offer children quality early-education services.”

Jim Johnson, Sunflower executive director, said he and the preschool staff also are grateful to the Rush County families.

“We couldn’t be more pleased about this generous contribution,” Johnson said. “It is obvious these families recognize the importance of early education. We hope many children will benefit from the comprehensive programs at our preschool through this endowment.”

The preschool uses the Itty Bitty Bookworm curriculum, which includes social-emotional development, language, literature, communication, arts, sciences, physical development and imaginative play. Its optional Friday curriculum for older students focuses on kindergarten preparation and allows more hands-on activities.

The preschool’s Crackerjack classes are for ages 3-and-a-half to 5 on Mondays and Wednesdays, and the Peanuts sessions are for those 2-and-a-half to 3-and-a-half on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Any individual, family or business may contribute to this new scholarship fund; all donations are tax deductible.

The GBCF has been assisting donors with charitable giving and working with area non-profit agencies since 1996. Its goal is to build stronger communities in Barton, Pawnee, Rush and Stafford counties.

As of Sept. 30, its total assets were $6.22 million. Grants awarded since 2002 total $1.2 million.

For more information about the GBCF call 620-792-3000, email gbcf@goldenbeltcf.org or visit www.goldenbeltcf.org.