Serendipity part of giving, receiving in the Ozarks

Philanthropic activities coming up include the Community Foundation's Humanitarian of the Year Award. Nominations are now being accepted by the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce committee charged with the selection process. Call the chamber at 862-5567 for a nomination form.

Also mark your calendar for Nov. 16, the annual Philanthropy Day Award Luncheon for the Ozarks Chapter of the National Society of Fund Raising Executives.

Among the eight awards being given are the Outstanding Philanthropist, Outstanding Volunteer Fund-Raiser, Outstanding Foundation, Outstanding Media Organization, Outstanding Philanthropic Organization, Outstanding Corporation, Outstanding Executive Fund-Raiser and Outstanding Small Business Organization.

'Tis a Privilege to Give in the Ozarks

I was intrigued by a wonderful story in the chamber's monthly publication, The Spirit, about a serendipitous major gift to a local charity, and I thought I would do a quick and random survey of other charities for similar stories.

In the story involving the chamber, Rinnie Henry at the front desk received a call from an unnamed gentleman asking for the name of an organization that helps disabled children and young adults. It sounded like a routine call for information. By coincidence, Rinnie had just spent the Day of Caring volunteering at the Developmental Center of the Ozarks and provided that name.

Later, the Developmental Center called to thank whomever at the chamber had recommended them. It seems the gentleman was looking for a way to memorialize his wife, who had lived in Springfield once and was interested in helping the disabled. He requested and reviewed DCO materials, liked what he read, and sent DCO a check for $100,000.

Most of us who are nonprofit executives have experienced the joy of opening an envelope from a law firm and having a check tumble out representing a bequest from someone unknown to us.

Director Bill Stalnaker of Boys & Girls Clubs of Springfield, who frequently has someone he has never met drop by in person to present a sizable check, has also experienced the surprise bequest phenomenon in his position. The most recent example was a $335,000 gift from someone entirely unknown to them.

One of our larger funds here at Community Foundation, totaling approximately $700,000, was a surprise bequest received this year.

Nancy Ferguson, director of development for Friends of the Zoo, reports a surprise bequest this year of $235,000 from someone with no apparent connection to the zoo, but who once mentioned a fondness for circus elephants to her trust officer at the bank.

Bonnie Keller, president and CEO at Ronald McDonald House, tells about serendipitous offers of help during their early lean years. She especially remembers the day they despaired of finding a volunteer to mow their extensive three-acre lawn and answering the doorbell later that day to find a neighbor asking if he could help out by cutting the grass.

But I believe Sister Lorraine Biebel holds the record for unexpected and unusual gifts. The staff at The Kitchen call her "the outside sister" because on several occasions when they needed money for one of the projects at The Kitchen, if Sister went outside the building, particularly in the alley behind the building, someone would just happen to drive or walk by and give her a check.

Once she was motioned over to a parked truck in the alley by a man who was writing a check for $5,000 and changed the amount to $10,000 at the whispered suggestion "why not make it 10?" from his companion.

Now the staff jokingly threaten to send her outside whenever money is short!

I asked Sister to tell me about her most unexpected gift. She told a story about a couple who called up and asked if they could have a tour of the organization's projects. She obliged, and when she saw that touring between the various buildings was tiring the gentleman, she offered to provide the rest of the information by letter.

Shortly after the letter was sent she got a phone call from the gentleman, who asked her if she was sitting down. She said yes, and he told her he was sending her a check for a half million dollars. When she recovered and found out who Mr. and Mrs. Wheeler were, she knew it was for real. He was Clarence Wheeler of Consumers Market fame, and he became one of The Kitchen's most loyal supporters.

Sister has a practice of envisioning what is needed at The Kitchen and telling her board to "be thinking" about something they need. Once she told her board to be thinking about a truck, preferably a red truck.

Several weeks later Nancy Ferguson, who serves on The Kitchen's board, asked Sister Lorraine what ever happened about the red truck.

"It was blue" Sister Lorraine said.

(Jan Horton is president and CEO of Community Foundation of the Ozarks. She is proud to be a lifelong volunteer, devotee of the arts, nature lover and environmentalist.)