Endowment Begins
Kewaun Gibson, left, prepared the ham, which was auctioned by Jeff Cyphers, far right, and won by Jamie and Liza Tucker, and family, for a $300 donation to the endowment.
By Greg Wells
CCN-Editor
An endowment is a legal financial commitment that uses the interest or profits from an original investment to fund future works.
That is what Dr. Elijah Wilson, at the Cumberland County
Cooperative Extension Office is working with 4-H Club members and leaders to build.
He said the project has gotten underway with several generous donations as well as the fundraising breakfast this past Saturday.
Endowment contributors include local State Representative Amy Neighbors, $250; Acre & Main Realty with $500; Sounds Good with $1,000; as well as the generous donation by Ric and Charlene Smith of $10,000.
Charlene Smith took to the podium during the Ham breakfast Saturday morning during the Cumberland County fair to explain why she and her husband, Ric, donated to the Cumberland County 4-H Endowment.
Wilson said the goal is to have the local 4-H Club be financially self-contained. With a pool of money deposited that will produce enough interest income to see that all the members in this county can participate in everything without facing unnecessary financial hurdles.
“Our plan is to have $1 million in the account,” he said. They have given themselves 10 years to accomplish that goal.
Jamie and Liza Tucker increased their contribution to the endowment, over their Acre & Main contribution, by winning the auction for the Cumberland County Fair Grand Champion Ham.
They bid $300 to purchase that ham. Of that, $100 goes to the endowment.
Wilson said that in the contest rules, a $200 premium was awarded to the club member who prepared the Grand Champion Ham, and it became the endowment’s.
He said that so far, the endowment account has reached $12,050 .
“The money will never go down,” Wilson said. He said the endowment will grow through donations and fundraisers as well as all the interest earned during that 10-year buildup.
While working toward that goal, the 4-H Club continues to build better communities by building better citizens.
“Financial education is actually a category in the fair,” Wilson said. “Workforce preparation, financial education, all that is considered life skills.”
He added that the traditional skills, such as preparing a country ham, sewing and other traditional home and farm skills, are still a focus of the program.
To contribute to the endowment, contact Wilson or anyone at the extension office.
