Foundation history

It was the early 1970s and Helen Taylor, a retired elementary teacher from Peru, informed a friend she was considering making the University of Illinois the beneficiary of her will.

Her friend suggested another option: Why not leave her estate to Illinois Valley Community College? That way she’d be guaranteed her hard earned life savings would help students here at home, her friend said. Fortunately for thousands of local students, Ms. Taylor heeded that advice.

When she died on Christmas Eve 1974, she left IVCC a gift of more than $100,000. It provided the seed money to create the IVCC Foundation in 1976.

An inspiration
Taylor’s bequest opened the door for other philanthropists to make lifetime gifts; J. Murray and Rhea Mae Crowder of Spring Valley, Watson Bartlett of Mendota and Nora and Mennow P. Smith of Lostant all made bequests of over $100,000 and helped increase Foundation assets to nearly $3.7 million by 2008.

More importantly, their generosity continues to help hundreds of students enjoy brighter futures. Today there are about 120 Foundation scholarships and 150 to 200 students receive awards annually.

In addition to donations for scholarships from individuals, civic groups, professional organizations and businesses, the Foundation raises money through annual special events such as Irish Night, a golf outing, The 21^st Century Scholars Society, Employee Campaign and Annual Fund Appeal.