Every day in our community, people meet for coffee, a sandwich or a drink after golf. And whether it’s talking about schools, parks, the arts or bringing more businesses to the area, they are always debating community issues. Dr. Robert Shears, Virginia Rayl and Dick and Martha Hamilton have been active participants in these informal “tables of wisdom” for years, including the visionary discussions that established Hutchinson Community Foundation in 1989.

From the beginning, they’ve each contributed to the Dick Dillon Legacy Fund, which supports Foundation operations. More recently they converted their Donor Advised Funds to Named Funds for Hutchinson, which are individual endowment funds that provide dollars for grants through the Fund for Hutchinson.

Why? These donors believe in the power of endowment and understand the potential of a community savings account. They were also able to capitalize on a powerful 50 percent match offered by the Kansas Health Foundation for new gifts to the Fund for Hutchinson Endowment. Now their gifts are in the best position to meet the needs and capitalize on the opportunities discussed at tables of wisdom all over town.