About Us

  • The Fairbury Civic Foundation is a legal successor to the Fairbury Foundation, which was established as a non-profit corporation in 1956. The citizens initiating organization of the Foundation wanted to provide an avenue for individuals and entities to contribute worthwhile community projects and procure income tax deductibility for their donations.
  • Many projects worthy of tax exemption are not large enough to justify the legal, accounting and other costs of maintaining approval and compliance with Internal Revenue Service regulations. In some cases, the project is temporary in nature. The Fairbury Foundation, and now the Fairbury Civic Foundation, serves as a conduit for this purpose by establishing special designated funds to which qualified donations can be made.
  • The goal of the Fairbury Foundation was to gather a mix of local citizens to serve as a board of directors, who would be approachable in terms of considering public projects and have a reasonable level of sophistication for management of funds. Members of the initial board of directors were Ray L. Barber, Dean S. Campbell, L.K. Cramb, Robert V. Denney, Roy L. Schainost, Ruth Skidmore, George A. Skultety, Morris Speir and Harry Zweifel. Initial president was L.K. Cramb. Ruth Skidmore was secretary and served in that capacity for many years.
  • In order to comply with changes in tax laws, the Fairbury Foundation reorganized in late 1982, and the Fairbury Civic Foundation was incorporated as an exempt organization to qualify under Section 501 (c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code. All funds were assumed by the new corporation, and the purposes remained the same.
  • Members of the temporary board of directors for the Fairbury Civic Foundation were Ron Schwab, Boyd Leonhardt and I. Howard Boeckner. After an organizational meeting, the following persons were elected to the new board: Robert Howell, I. Howard Boeckner (president), Patricia Selk (secretary/treasurer) Boyd Leonhardt (vice president), Ron Oswald, Ron Schwab, Homer Ward, Fred Drexler and Jack Wesch.
  • The Fairbury Civic Foundation has administered many scholarship funds established by individuals and organizations over the years.
  • The Foundation’s Sanmann Fund has distributed thousands of dollars to area schools for special projects over the past twenty-five years. The original foundation collected and contributed significant initial funding for the Jefferson County Memorial Hospital.
  • Major projects have included the Cloverleaf Softball Field and the Burkley Fine Arts Center. The Jelinek Fund is used for maintenance of the engine at the Fairbury City Park. A Girl Scout Cabin Fund and Christmas Light Fund are maintained for persons who wish to donate to those causes. A Fairbury Museum Fund has been used for museum repairs. Recently, the Foundation distributed funds for repainting of the water tower.
  • The Foundation board will consider any project or scholarship request, the main requirement being that it be for a charitable purpose consistent with the Internal Revenue Code. Persons or groups who wish to establish a fund may contact any board member. Current board members are Mike Blobaum (president), Mike Steele (vice president), Shelly Hamm (secretary), Linda English (treasurer), Jack Wesch, Don Mahlman, Julie Ondrak, Glenda Austin, Jeff Meyer, and Ron Schwab.