Donors listen to the history behind the Gardens of Central Park

KOSCIUSKO — A 50th-anniversary celebration for Kosciusko County Community Foundation donors was held last night, Aug. 2, at Center Lake Park. 

The event featured nonprofit activities to give donors a hands-on experience with charities that their dollars support. Wawasee Robotics showcased their award-winning creations, Spoonful of Imagination Art Studio provided a painting project and Boomerang Backpacks invited everyone to fill a bag of food for local students.

Donors were provided tours of parts of the park that were funded by the foundation including Central Park Gardens, Biblical Gardens and Glover Pavilion. They learned about the people behind these assets to the community.

Richard and Evelyn Glover helped provide countless musical acts for the city through Glover Pavilion. Richard was the first president of the board at the community foundation. They loved music and knew they wanted to give back to the community. Using a fund at the community foundation, the Glovers built Glover Pavilion.

Robert and Roma Maish owned Little Crow Foods. Robert fondly remembered his mother’s gardens and the couple wanted to bring that beauty to Warsaw. They used the help from the community foundation to start the Central Park Gardens. They created an endowment fund which allows the garden to be continuously maintained.

In 1985 Saralee Levin had a dream of converting her husband’s scrapyard into a garden populated with plants from the Bible. Kevin Zachary, a foundation board member, became involved with the garden and helped it gain charitable status through the Warsaw Community Development Corporation. Kevin and his wife Charlotte are the most loyal donors to the endowment that was started by the WCDC.

On Aug. 2, 1968, under the sponsorship of the Warsaw Chamber of Commerce, the Greater Warsaw Community Foundation began with assets of $871. Its founders envisioned the Community Foundation as a place to hold and grow funds that would benefit the community and its residents, forever. 

Fifty years later, and renamed Kosciusko County Community Foundation, the Community Foundation now has over 350 permanently endowed funds created and named by donors to accomplish their charitable dreams. The Community Foundation’s assets have grown from $871 in 1968 to over $57 million. Annually, grants of nearly $2.5 million are made for a broad range of charitable needs including human services, arts and culture, recreation, the environment, health, civic projects and education.

Over the next year, the Community Foundation wishes to celebrate its 50th anniversary with all of the donors, volunteers, nonprofit partners and community members who have helped accomplish its mission to “make donor dreams shine for the good of our community.”

“We will be hosting a number of community events throughout the county in the coming year,” said Suzie Light, Community Foundation CEO. “It’s our hope that people of all ages and from every town take part in the celebration because the Kosciusko County Community Foundation really is your community foundation.”

Donors also learned about the history behind the Biblical Gardens.

The new Kosciusko County Community Foundation mascot Dreamer poses with Symphony of the Lakes from Wagon Wheel.

Dr. Nate Bosch, director of the Lilly Center for Lakes and Streams demonstrates how the organization samples water.