Starting this January, the Seward Community Foundation underwent a leadership transition from our past President of the Board, Kim Reierson, to the new President, Dave Paperman. While we are all excited to be working with Dave in the coming months and years, we need to take some time to be thankful for Kim’s leadership and experience with the Board. We also want to appreciate how much she has given to make the SCF a strong supporter of our local nonprofits, undoubtedly making Seward and Moose Pass better places to live and raise our families. Kim was among the founding members to establish the community foundation back in 2008 and helped create guidelines to make the SCF successful in the future. She explains by saying, “We did extensive strategic planning and laid out our goals for the future. We were truly a working board and that tradition has continued to this day. SCF has become a very successful organization thanks to the diligent work that the founding Board did. It’s such an honor to be a part of that success.” Kim is a founding member of SCF and has served 11 of 13 years of the Board’s existence, half of those as its President. When asked how being President of the Board has affected how she views the community, she said, “One of the most interesting things I have learned by being a part of SCF is about our local nonprofits. The people involved in these organizations and the work they are doing is essential to our community. It’s like having your finger on the pulse of Seward and Moose Pass. You can see when your community is celebrating or struggling and you know you can do something to help.” The Board is well set up for the future with the endowment aspect of the funds. Every dollar donated to the Board is kept forever, and only the interest from that donation goes on to give grants to nonprofits. Currently, the Board gives out over $120,000 in grants every year! The future is bright, but there is more work to do, as Kim says. “We need to keep building relationships with our donors, fundholders, and our local nonprofits. We need to keep sharing information about legacy giving and our business partnership program so that we can continue to build our endowments on a substantial level. I would like to see us work at a leadership level on community issues as we did when the Seward Area Hospice program was started.” Kim still has one more year left on the Board to complete her last term, so thankfully, we still have her wisdom and guidance for several more months. But that doesn’t mean we won’t see her in another volunteer capacity in the community. Retirement and the arrival of their first grandchild will have Kim and her husband Skip traveling more and taking some more time for themselves. A much deserved time for herself after so selflessly serving our community in an impactful manner. True to her sense of community, Kim had this to say in closing, “Last, but not least, I will remain a monthly donor and legacy donor to the Seward Community Foundation.”
Thank you for your service, Kim!