With a population of 343 people, Shickley might not seem like a bastion of abundance on paper. But strolling down Market Street reveals a dynamic community committed to a bright future. To the west, you can see Shickley Public School’s greenhouse, where students studying agriculture can get interactive education. To the east, the laughter of children playing at the school’s early learning facility resonates over treetops. As you travel south, the Market Street businesses are bustling. Further south, you’ll find the $1.3 million community building, across from which is the community’s striking veterans’ memorial.
The Shickley Community Foundation Fund (SCFF) contributed to all these projects, alongside many, many others. Since its establishment in 2002, SCFF has reinvested $1.1 million in the community. That includes more than $200,000 to Shickley Public Schools; $40,000 to Fillmore County Hospital; and more than $30,000 in scholarships for teachers and healthcare undergraduates. The recipe for their success? A vibrant community and a strong unrestricted endowment.
The Fund has successfully matched two challenge grants in the last 20 years. Those challenges, combined with many generous estate gifts, have allowed SCFF to build a $2.3 million unrestricted endowment with an annual payout exceeding the village’s yearly budget. That’s plenty of dream capital to make grants toward causes important to the community, such as the schools, early childhood education, the county hospital, leadership programs, and community recreation facilities.
Examining SCFF’s many grants awarded over its multiple decades, one discovers a unifying theme. Every grant is an investment in Shickley’s greatest asset—its people. Like most communities in the NCF network, Shickley’s fund advisory committee understands that everything comes back to making their place magnetic—for those already living there and for those who will one day call Shickley home.
Shickley is already working with its next generation of leaders. Hometown Interns Hannah Miller and Mariah Sliva put it this way: “Younger generations are full of ambition and are taking the proper steps to propel our community in the right direction. We have watched these role models pave a path for the youth, and now it’s our turn to do the same.”
