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Jared Jost, chairman of the Hillsboro Community Foundation board, accepts a check from Delores and John Dalke as the first donation to the newly established ?Expand?ing Our Influence Campaign? fund through HCF. Looking on are HCF board member Brad Bartel (far left) and Tabor president Jules Glanzer. |
Officials from Tabor College signed documents earlier this month establishing the ?Expand?ing Our Influence Campaign? fund through Hillsboro Community Foundation.
?This is a project fund created specifically for the stadium and related projects,? said Brad Bartel, a member of the HCF board of directors. ?It has been part of the plan since the stadium concept was first considered.?
The new project fund will be a vehicle for donors to support the project other than giving directly to Tabor College.
On hand to make the first donation were Mayor Delores and John Dalke.
?We felt giving the money through the foundation was a good way to show that the community is really behind this whole project,? the mayor said.
Dalke said she hopes members of the community who may not normally be contributors to the college will consider making donations to this fund because of the positive impact the new Joel H. Wiens Stadium will have on the entire city.
The $5 million project is a joint venture of the college and USD 410.
?I think what Tabor and the school have done together is so important for our community,? Dalke said. ?I think people in the community really need to get behind the stadium project and all the improvements that have been done out there.?
Tabor President Jules Glanzer said he was ?particularly delighted? that the first gift to the fund came from the Dalkes.
?They have been friends of Tabor over the years and now are leading the community in this endeavor,? Glanzer said. ?The facility is a wonderful addition to the campus and to the community. Everyone is a winner, and the community has a facility we all can be proud of.?
Lyndon Vix, chairman of the Tabor College Board of Direc?tors, said establishing the fund will help the college pay off project-related loans in a more timely manner.
?While Tabor College normally would not go forward with a capital improvement project if the funds were not in hand or pledged, our board made an exception in this instance due to the needs of USD 410 and the overall benefit to the community,? Vix said.
?As such, we have had to borrow to move forward, making the need to fund the project more urgent than our other capital campaigns.?
Dalke said the project has already generated a new sense of pride and ownership among community residents of all ages.
?I think it?s been just awesome this fall going to the ball games and seeing those stands as full as they?ve been and to see all the enthusiasm,? Dalke said.
?The first couple of nights I was there, I saw kids picking up trash and putting it in the trash cans out there,? she added. ?We had always seen trash laying around at those fields.
?I think it speaks wonders about our community and the way we take care of things. I was so impressed by that.?
