The Corydon Democrat
Wednesday, March 7, 2001

Opinions

Just Where Has all that Riverboat Money Gone?

Since its inception in 1996, the Harrison County Community Foundation, as of the fall 2000, has provided nearly $1 million in scholarships and funds to support families, non-profit groups that assist residents, government programs and educational organizations in Harrison County.

The Foundation's spending is included in this series of riverboat revenue reports because it was organized with a $5 million gift from Caesars Indiana as part of its agreement to obtain a license to operate here.

The Foundation receives funds from Caesars each month, based on its gross profits, but it also receives contributions from a host of other sources. Many groups and individuals have established endowments and/or scholarships with the Foundation in the last year. Many of those investments in the community were made undoubtedly to take advantage of the Foundation's offer to double contributions, up to $25,000. That program was announced last year in February.

From day one, Foundation leaders, in keeping with the advice and wants of county officials, have guarded the Foundation's principal and spent only the income on the principal to ensure the funding is available for generations to come.

Also with an eye to the Foundation's future health, the board hired its first executive director two years ago last month. Steven A. Gilliland, founder and executive director of the Crawford County Youth Services Bureau in Marengo, has been at the helm since that time. He can be reached at 738-6668 in Corydon. Julie Bliss of Corydon is the administrative assistant. Information concerning the Foundation may also be accessed on the Internet.

A non-paid board of directors oversees the Foundation. Initially, board members were appointed by county officials from a group of nominees representing a cross section of geographic regions of the county. Since its organization, the non-partisan board elects its officers and new directors when necessary to fill vacancies on the board.

J. Gordon Pendleton has served as president of the Foundation board since its organization. Other board members and officers include: Sally Williar, vice chair; Donald L. Gossman, secretary; Thomas R. Tucker, treasurer; Judy Hess, Caesars' representative; and Earl Book, Virgil P. Carpenter, Debbie Coleman, Jane Kraft, Rudee Ann Rudd Rodriguez, Maryland Austin Scharf, Qudsia Davis, Brian Churchill, Herbert B. Gettelfinger, Charles E. Lynch, Peter J. Schickel, Sandy Sherman, Dale E. Watson, Carl Uesseler, H. Lloyd (Tad) Whitis and now Paul Beckort, who was recently elected to fill the vacancy created by the death of founding director James W. (Jim) Reeves of Elizabeth.

Early in its organizational phase, the Foundation determined that grants should be awarded in a variety of categories, based on needs expressed during a round of public meetings countywide. Those categories include: education, arts, recreation, government, human services, community projects and the environment.

Here's a look at the totals (rounded) given out each grant period and a random sampling of recipients (sorry, there's not room for all):

Fall 2000 ($268,155)
Spring 2000 ($168,000)
Fall 1999 ($120,131)
Spring 1999 ($84,500)
Fall 1998 ($98,653)
Spring 1998 ($120,000)
Fall 1997 ($116,500)

Education spending
Education spending includes $390,000 for scholarships, which can be made to adults wishing to further their education as well as graduating high school seniors.

Other educational categories include such items as $25,000 for Renaissance programs countywide; $37,500 for a distance learning project in Lanesville schools; $26,823 for history, art, Internet and reading programs at St. Joseph School, and $2,650 for an outdoor education, camp-out program at St. Joseph.

Arts
Spending for the arts has included $8,000 for sculpture to be placed at the Blaine H. Wiseman Visitor Center, and $3,000 for sound equipment at Hayswood Theatre.

Recreation ($73,813)
Spending for recreation has included $11,614 for the playground equipment at Hayswood Nature Reserve; $25,849 for playground equipment at South Harrison Park, and $5,000 for soccer equipment for the Harrison County Soccer Association.

Government ($30,000)
This expenditure reflects the cost of a survey for the water system at Palmyra.

Community projects ($153,005)
This category has included $15,000 for a pedestrian/bicycle trail along Indian Creek in Corydon; $8,727 for three defibrillators purchased through the American Heart Association; and $10,000 for the 25th Anniversary Heritage book for the Lanesville Heritage Weekend.

Human services ($278,293)
Spending here includes Harrison County Community Service, $14,500 for new computers and upgraded office space, and $20,000 for a caseworker at North Harrison Elementary; $2,465 for expenses of a planning meeting; $6,000 for Furthering Youth Inc. for a "Learning through the Arts" activities program and $10,000 to help pay for utilities at the Gerdon Youth Center; $5,000 for a Harrison County caseworker for the Center for Women and Families; and $45,000 for the South Harrison Community Development Corp. for a new roof at its community center.

Fire departments ($30,000)
Spending for fire departments and police don't always fall under this category. But so far, the Foundation has spent the following amounts for these fire departments:

Corydon, $4,000 for personnel equipment; Franklin, $4,000 for personnel equipment; Palmyra, $6,000 for land purchase; Ramsey, $6,000 for sewer system, and Harrison Township, $10,000 for air compressor and refill tanks.

Environment ($7,000)

This one-time expenditure of $7,000 was for The Nature Conservancy.

As of this writing Friday, the Spring 2001 awards, other than scholarships, had not been announced, but that information is expected either this week or next in the front section of The Corydon Democrat.

Oh, I almost forgot: a $1.25 million endowment has been established by the Foundation to give five four-year, full scholarships to Harrison County residents attending Indiana University Southeast (either non-traditional students returning to school or graduating high school seniors). By 2005, the endowment is expected to provide funding for 20 full-time students at IUS. A scholarship has also been established for residents attending the University of Louisville.

It's a tough job recapping all this spending, but somebody has to do it. Stay tuned. There's bound to be more.