The Wahkiakum County Eagle - Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891

June 21, 2007

At it most recent meeting, the Wahkiakum Community Foundation Board of Trustees voted to establish a new Medical Clinic Endowment Fund to support the Wahkiakum Family Practice Clinic.

Commissioners Tom Doumit and Dan Cothren had requested that the foundation develop a campaign to raise funds in an endowment fund that would provide revenues to help run the clinic in years to come.

Endowments are established with restricted gifts that are invested with payouts sent annually to support a certain program. The new Clinic Endowment Fund will be set up to solely support the clinic. Knowing how important this effort is to the welfare of all the people in the county, the trustees agreed that the foundation would take no income or collect any administrative fees for setting up or managing the fund.

"The intent of this effort is to help the clinic remain a vital service in the lives of the people who live here," Bonnie Linquist, board president, said. "This endowment fund will mean that if taxes are collected to support the clinic in the future, the levy will be lower due to the support from the Clinic Endowment Fund's annual payment to the clinic. Our hope is for people to see that it makes sense to pay into the fund now to get it started with an initial gift or pledge so they will pay lower taxes to support the clinic in years to come. I hope all who use the clinic will see that and make an effort to invest in the clinic's future by making a gift to the fund."

"Pledges can be made as well as gifts of cash or stock. Gifts and pledges can also be done on a donor's credit card. If a bequest in a will is being set up to support the Clinic Endowment Fund, letting us know that's coming becomes "pipeline" income that can be documented as reference for the commissioners while they make plans for keeping the clinic open," Karen Bertroch, foundation director, reported. "There is a timeline here. With the coming advisory vote on the August ballot, we need to have some sense of what the public is willing to put into the new Endowment fund at the foundation as the commissioners make plans for financing the clinic and prepare the ballot. The commissioners are hoping the citizens will make the effort to support the fund so any taxes that might be levied in the future will be for a lower amount. This is one of the main reasons the foundation was established - to provide opportunities for folks to make this kind of project possible."

To find out more about the new Clinic Endowment Fund, contact Bertroch at the foundation at (360) 465-2414 or email her at kbertroch@aol.com. To make a gift or a pledge to the new Clinic Endowment Fund, mail your gift or information to WCF, PO Box 611, Cathlamet WA 98612.