09 Oct Lindsborg Community Receives $15 Million Gift
In a joint press conference today, three Lindsborg organizations announced the largest gift in each of their respective histories. In total, the Lindsborg community received more than $15 million from the David J. Nutt Trust. The McPherson County Community Foundation received over $7.4 million. Bethany College and the Lindsborg Community Hospital were gifted more than $3.7 million each. Other beneficiaries of the trust are Trinity United Methodist Church, The Lindsborg Community Library and The McPherson Old Mill Museum and Bethany Home.
In the trust document, Mr. Nutt was specific in stating the reasons funds were gifted to each of the organizations. To the Lindsborg/DN Fund of the McPherson County Community Foundation a 50 percent endowment was given for the education, health, and quality of life in the Lindsborg Community. Bethany College received 25 percent of the trust to continue the college’s uplifting influence on the community and in gratitude for the kindness of two former Bethany college librarians and Mr. Nutt’s neighbors, Vendla and Edla Wahlin. They provided Mr. Nutt’s first paid work experience by hiring him to do chores as a child, and they encouraged him to continue his education beyond high school. The Lindsborg Community Hospital received 25 percent in appreciation of the care Mr. Nutt’s parents received during their later years.
The other beneficiaries also received praise and cause for their gifts. Trinity United Methodist Church, in appreciation for the religious instruction Mr. Nutt enjoyed there as a child and the support of his family, received $100,000. The Lindsborg Community Library received $100,000 to celebrate the benefits a good library brings to the community. In the trust document, Mr. Nutt stated the information gleaned in community libraries was largely responsible for his investment successes. McPherson County Old Mill Museum also received $100,000 to aid in the preservation of the McPherson County history.
The Lindsborg/DN fund at the McPherson County Community Foundation was originally established as an endowment in 2004 to provide a resource to organizations serving the Lindsborg community. Gifts to endowments are invested and earnings used to fund Lindsborg nonprofits annually. The new value of this fund will allow for approximately $350,000 in annual grant distributions in the near future. A selection committee will select organizations based on current Lindsborg community needs from received applications.
“A gift of this magnitude can positively affect the entire community forever,” states Becky Goss, McPherson County Community Foundation President/CEO. “Residents today and our future generations are the benefactors of Mr. Nutt’s generosity. We are thrilled to work with the Lindsborg community to maintain and strengthen the quality of life enjoy by the residents.”
Bethany College, established by Swedish Lutheran immigrants in 1881, is a college of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. The mission of Bethany College is to educate, develop, and challenge individuals to reach for truth and excellence as they lead lives of faith, learning, and service.
Bethany’s President, Will Jones, said, “It is amazing to see how the ripple effects of treating people well and kindly can return to you as waves of goodness. This gift will assist Bethany’s work of producing successful professionals who love God and love people.”
The Lindsborg Community Hospital was incorporated in 1944. Today, it is a 25 bed critical access hospital with 110 employees. The hospital, which includes a family medicine clinic, became an affiliate of Salina Regional Health Center in 2012 with an operations and management contract.
“With the exception of one or two people, our current care team did nothing to deserve a gift of this measure… it happened more than forty years ago,” states Larry Van Der Wege, LCH Administrator. “We are reminded that many individuals before us laid the pathway for caring and compassion to the people we serve. The people of today and for generations will reap the benefits. “
The announcement was made in the J.O. Sundstrom Conference Center in Lindsborg, KS, this morning at 10:00 a.m. with the recipients of the trust. Loutricia Walleen, cousin to David J. Nutt, wrote out and presented the checks to the beneficiaries.
For more information contact:
Tricia Clark
Executive Director of Communications and Marketing
(785) 227-3380 Ext 8271
clarktd@bethanylb.edu
Bethany College
335 East Swenson Street
Lindsborg, KS 67456