Waseca Area Foundation to celebrate 35th anniversary

From humble origins in the All School Class Reunion of 1988, the Waseca Area Foundation has grown to become one of the most complex and comprehensive of many community-based nonprofit organizations serving small towns across Minnesota.

Working in close partnership with the St. Paul and Minnesota Foundation, the Waseca Area Foundation now gives back $350,000 to the community annually, funding organizations running the gauntlet from the library to the Art Center to Big Brothers, Big Sisters.

Thanks to the support of so many generous community members, the Foundation has now set up over 60 funds, all devoted to serving the Waseca area’s needs. Executive Director Amy Potter said that makes it among Minnesota’s most complex nonprofits.

The Waseca Area Foundation remains true to its roots, even as it has grown exponentially, relying heavily on local, grassroots contributions. Potter noted that the most common gifts to the foundation are memorial gifts of less than $100.

In its first year, the WAF was able to raise a grand total of $6,000 and its first gift was to the Art Center, for which it approved a grant request of $400 for a new window shade. Since then, the foundation has approved some $5.8 million in grant requests in Waseca County.

Today, the WAF manages a portfolio of funds worth over $13 million. The funds vary widely not only in size but in type, ranging from non-restricted to restricted to designated to donor-advised and even the “community advised” E.F. Johnson fund.

Underneath the umbrella of the Waseca Area Foundation, fledgling nonprofit organizations have sprung up to specifically support the needs of New Richland and Janesville, though in terms of funding they remain just a fraction of the size of their parent organization.

Now, as a way to give back to the community and the tireless volunteers and generous donors who have built the WAF from scratch over the last three and a half decades, the organization is holding a special 35th Anniversary Party on Thursday, Sept. 19 from 4 to 7 p.m.

Potter said that the organization is planning for as many as 300 guests at the Anniversary Party, and said that an event full of family-friendly fun will take place or shine at Northeast Park, with guests seeking shelter under the park pavilion if need be.

The event will feature a trio of local food trucks — Kelm’s BBQ, Polly’s Pantry and Tacos El Reyna, along with live music from the Whiskey Whiskers, a local Waseca band, and free cupcakes, providing a full festival atmosphere.

“We have significantly grown over those 35 years thanks to all of the gifts from Waseca County businesses and residents,” Potter said. “This is a way to say thank you to everybody’s support and celebrate all of the good work that the foundation does.”