Community Sign Project Fundraising Underway

It has been awhile, so I thought that I would give an update on fundraising efforts that are underway for the Downtown Community Sign Project. The project is being spearheaded by the Lions Club of Tyler and the foundation is taking donations on behalf of the project. All donations made to the foundation on behalf of this project will qualify for a tax deduction. To date, around $8,300 of the $30,000 needed, has been raised for the sign project.

Donors to the sign project to date include: Anonymous donor, Nancy and John Utoft, Meulebroeck, Taubert and Company, Sturdevant’s Auto Parts, Tyler Funeral Home, Arnold and Joyce Dass, Southwest Family Chiropractic, Ardith L. Sween, Shirley A Johnson, Knudsen’s BP Amoco, Pluto Legal, PLLC, Richard/Cheryl Vos, John or Margaret Bornhoft, and Esther Hauswedell. These donations and the donations made directly to the Lions Club make up the $8,300 raised to date for the project.

If you would like to join this group of donors to the Downtown Community Sign Project, you can mail your donation to: TACF, PO Box 239, Tyler, MN 56178 and write on the note line of the check, Downtown Sign Project Fund.

Endowment Grants Approved

The TACF board reviewed and approved endowment grants in the amount of $220 a piece for the following community projects: RTR FFA Vineyard project, Tyler 125th Celebration project, Aebleskiver Days project, and the Lions Club downtown community sign project. The endowment grant fund dollars were made available from the interest earned on the endowment fund principal dollars over the last year. In the future we hope to continue to grow the endowment fund principal amount which in turn will allow us to do larger grants in the future. If you would like to donate to the endowment fund or the downtown community sign project, you send your donation to TACF PO Box 239, Tyler, MN 56178. Just indicate on a note or your check which fund (endowment or community sign) that you would like your donation to help. Thank you!

March Update

The TACF board met on March 28th to discuss how it planned on moving a couple projects in 2011 and to identify which community projects would receive endowment grants from available endowment funds. The board was updated on the Tyler Golf Course project by a representative from the Southwest Initiative Fund who let us know that an anonymous donor has decided to donate $12,000 to the clubhouse remodel project. The board decided that the Golf Course Project fund would remain open for tax-deductible donations until April 30th.

With that project coming to an end, the board looked for a new project to support. This new project will be the Lions Club project for a new Downtown Community Electronic Sign. The project is estimated to cost around $26,000. We can start taking donations for the project immediately and if further information about the sign is needed, please contact a Lions Club member. Donations should have a note on them indicating that it is for the Sign Project and can be mailed to TACF, PO Box 239, Tyler, MN 56178.

The board decided that the following community projects will receive endowment grants in 2011: Downtown Community Sign Project, 125th Celebration, Abelskiver Days, and RTR FFA. The funds were made available for granting from the dollars earned from the TACF Endowment Fund.

Happy Holidays!

As we get to the end of the year, the Tyler Area Community Foundation would like to extend a Happy Holidays to all of our blog readers and thank the community for there support in 2010 and their continued support in 2011.
Thank you!!

Update 11-3-10

It has been awhile since I posted any updates on what has been happening at the Tyler Area Community Foundation, so I thought I would do that today. Over the last couple of months, your foundation reached its donation goals for the year and its goal for the dollar for dollar match from the Southwest Initiative Foundation (SWIF). Right now, we have $52,000 in a permanent endowment fund. The board is now looking at how it will take grant applications for the $894 available for granting in 2011. This will be the first time that the local foundation will have money available to grant and we will be looking for community projects that will make good use of the available funds. We ran a newspaper ad thanking all of our donors that helped us reach our goals and for those donors that didn't read the newspaper that week, "Thank You!".

The foundation is still accepting donations for the golf course project and for the National Danish Performance team visit to Tyler next week. If you want to send a donation to the Foundation, you can make the check out to TACF and mail it to PO Box 239, Tyler, MN 56178. Please mark on the check where you would like your donation to be deposited, for example: endowment, golf course project, or Danish performance team project. Thank you all for your support over the last couple of years as we work to re-establish the foundation in our community. If you would like to serve on the Foundation's board, please send an email to toleary@llec.coop and let me know. Thank you!

$1550 Raised in Month of June

It looks like the challenge of an anonymous Tyler resident has been matched by the generous donations of other Tyler residents who wanted to take advantage of this challenge. The donations will also be matched by the Southwest Initiative Foundation and should get us to the $25,000 match challenge originally issued by Southwest Initiative Foundation when the Tyler Area Community Foundation was started. The TACF would like to thank everyone that helped meet this goal.

The following donated to the endowment fund since my last blog post: Southwest Insurance Service (Barb Bornhoft), Larry and Kathy DeBoer, Tyler Wholesale (Curt, Kari, and Justin Dass), Dale and Joy Schak, Buzzy and Joyce Dass, Chris and Amy Determan (Southwest Family Chiropractic), and Christianson Implement (Mory and Mona Christianson).

The foundation also received a donation from Ryan and Jamie Schreurs for the golf course remodel project.

Thank you to everyone that donated to these funds!

Challenge Update and Update on other Projects

Only a week left in the Endowment Challenge that was issued late last month by a Tyler resident. The challenge was made to match up to $1500 of all donations made to the Endowment Fund from June 2nd to July 1st. To date, the TACF has received $400 towards the challenge. If you are looking at making a tax deductible donation to the Endowment Fund, now is the time to do it. As someone mentioned to me, for every dollar she donated it would be matched by a $1 from the challenge and $1 from SWIF which is a pretty good value. Donations should be made out to TACF Endowment Fund and mailed to TACF, PO Box 239, Tyler, MN 56178.

TACF is also working with the Friends of the National Danish Performance Team and the Southwest Initiative Foundation on another project fund that would help offset the expenses to bring the team to perform in Tyler and at the RTR schools. Donations have already reached $1950 in this project, but the group will continue to look for more donations over the coming months. The Performance Team is scheduled to perform in Tyler on November 8th. Please contact Ricke Bly to learn more about the Performance Team and its visit to Tyler. If you would like to donate to this project, please send your donation to TACF, PO Box 239 Tyler, MN 56178 with a note saying that it is for the NDPT project fund.

It also looks like the Tyler Golf Course Project remodeling project is coming along nicely, but they are still looking for donations to help them with finishing the remodeling project. If you would like to donate to this project, please send your donation to TACF, PO Box 239 Tyler, MN 56178 with a note saying that it is for the Tyler Golf Course project fund.

Donations have been received for the endowment fund and the two project funds from the following: Leon and Diane Sorensen, Ron and Pam Thooft, Trent and Jackie Hess, Tim and Stacy O'Leary, Henry and Sharon Jacobsen, Buzzy and Joyce Dass, Curt and Darla Madsen, Jerry and Ricke Bly, Harlan and Marsha Petersen, Greg and Marilyn Peter, Denny and Jeanne Blomgren, Dennis and Jolean Faaborg, John and Margaret Bornhoft, Ines Peter, John and Nancy Utoft, Kurt Thomsen (Shadetree Auto), and the Tyler Healthcare Center. Thank you!