Belvue Park Organization Partners with Kansas Rural Communities Foundation to Raise Money for Community Improvement Projects

(April 7, 2008) Belvue, KS — As part of its ongoing fundraising efforts for community improvement projects, the Belvue Park Organization (BPO) established the Belvue Community Improvement Fund, an affiliated fund with the Kansas Rural Communities Foundation, a 501(c )(3) nonprofit in Wamego, to raise money for a new playground, basketball court, walking trail, and other facilities.

“Although Belvue is a fairly small community,” said Brandy Crubel, BPO president, “local citizens and businesses, as well as those from neighboring towns, have been very supportive of our goals and mission to raise funds to improve and maintain our public park and other facilities. We want to ensure that our children and visitors to our community have a safe, fun, and functional playground and other amenities that we can be proud of. We also want to leave a lasting legacy for generations to come.”

The idea for the playground got off the ground last April when the Park Organization decided to build a basketball court. Realizing that basketball wouldn’t be as much fun for younger children, the group decided to expand their goals to construct a play area with seven slides, two sets of swings, and a half-size basketball court as well as to renovate their ball field and build a walking trail. The Park Organization has raised nearly $40,000 to date, and their goal is to raise an additional $60,000 by summer 2010. They have already begun construction on the play area and will be installing swings and basketball goals on May 3.

Crubel noted that the current ball field, while being in “good enough shape for practice,” doesn't have anything else. When the committee gets done, she said, it will have dugouts, restrooms, and a shelter house.

Belvue is located in Pottawatomie County in northeast Kansas; neighboring towns include Wamego, six miles to the west, and St. Marys, six miles to the east.

“By affiliating with the Kansas Rural Communities Foundation,” said Doug Springer, KRCF president, “the Belvue Park Organization can focus on fundraising and donor development while we take care of the necessary grant paperwork, government reporting and other requirements for them.

“Anyone can make a tax-deductible contribution to any fund within the KRCF and receive the full tax benefit of giving to a 501(c)(3) charitable organization. As part of our services, KRCF will automatically issue receipts and tax information to contributors.”

To donate to the Belvue Community Improvement Fund, <click here>. Checks and money orders should be made out to the Belvue Community Improvement Fund in care of the Kansas Rural Communities Foundation and mailed to the KRCF at P.O. Box 25, Wamego KS 66547.

For more information about the Belvue Parks Organization and their community improvement initiatives, please contact:

Brandy Crubel, BPO president, at mzero21@hotmail.com or
Andrea Jackson, BPO treasurer, at mjaksbama@wamego.net.

About the Kansas Rural Communities Foundation
The formation of the Kansas Rural Communities Foundation in 2006 as 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation created an efficient mechanism through which individuals, families, corporations, nonprofit organizations, and private foundations have been able to create funds and make gifts to benefit their communities.

Donated dollars have established scholarships, built new community playgrounds, assisted families who have children with disabilities, and aided historical preservation, just to name a few. Some of the communities that have benefited from the services provided by the KRCF include Belvue, Havensville, Norton, Olsburg, Onaga, St. George, St. Marys, Wamego, Westmoreland, and Wheaton.

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For more information about the KRCF, contact
René Eichem, executive director
Kansas Rural Communities Foundation
P.O. Box 25 | 529 Lincoln Ave. | Wamego, KS 66547
Phone: 785-456-8444 | Fax: 785-456-8443
E-mail | http://www.thekrcf.org