Jasper County non-profits invited to apply for grants to establish endowment funds

Board members of the Geisler-Penquite Foundation invite Jasper County non-profit organizations to submit applications for funding to support charitable work benefiting Jasper County residents. Geisler-Penquite Foundation grants, which are available only to Jasper County non-profits, must be invested by recipient organizations and held in a dedicated Geisler-Penquite Endowment. Each year, only earnings from the Endowment may be utilized to fund organizations’ current operations, projects or special programs.

Established in 2009, the Geisler-Penquite Foundation’s roots trace back to 1969 when the Geisler Penquite Charitable Corporation was created with just $7,000 by the Jasper County farm family of John E. and Gertrude Setzer Geisler and their children, Harold and Cecil. Since then, distribution of the family’s farm holdings and investments have resulted in grants totaling nearly $9 million to Central College and 16 Jasper County non-profit organizations whose missions align closely with the family’s deeply held values of hard work, diligence, a love for learning and strong adherence to Christian principles.

In 1977, the family’s desire to invest in Christian higher education inspired Cecil Geisler Penquite and her husband, Loren, and Harold Geisler and his wife, Mavis, who resided in rural Mingo at the time, to donate $500,000 — then the largest single gift to Central College in the school’s history — to fund educational materials, technologies and learning experiences available in the Geisler Learning Resource Center.

In addition to Central College’s Learning Resource Center and Education Department, long-time Geisler-Penquite Foundation grant recipients include Baxter Community Educational Scholarships, Centre for Arts & Artists, Colfax Mingo Scholarships, Greater Des Moines Habitat for Humanity (for Jasper County projects), Iowa Sculpture Festival, Jasper Community Foundation-Mingo, Jasper Community Foundation-Newton, Jasper County 4-H, Jasper County Historical Museum, Newton Dollars for Scholars, Newton Y.M.C.A., Park Centre/WesleyLife, Progress Industries Foundation, Newton Arboretum & Botanical Gardens, Mercy One/Newton Medical Center, and Sheepgate — Division of Teen Challenge of the Midlands.

Geisler-Penquite Foundation board members include Dan Skokan, president and treasurer; Eric Sickler, vice president; Sheri Roslien secretary; Noreen Otto, John Roslien, Eugene Knopf and Maurine Timmer. Gary Timmer serves as advisor to the board.

More information and application forms may be requested by calling 719-641-1478 or writing to Geisler-Penquite Foundation, 164 Delft Drive, Pella, IA 50219. The submission deadline for new grant applications is July 1.