Donor spotlight: The Brown and Blochowitz Education Fund
The Brown and Blochowitz Education Fund is part of the Eastern Colorado Community Fund portfolio, which is a grouping of all funds designated to benefit communities and charitable organizations in our region. All funds are managed by the Community Foundation of Northern Colorado, a 501c3 public charity. The following is a Q&A with Bob Brown regarding the Brown and Blochowitz Education Fund.
Why did you establish a fund with the Eastern Colorado Community Fund?
Connie and I graduated from Julesburg High School in 1987. Graduating JHS and heading to college at age 17 was daunting; I went to Arizona while Connie headed to Nebraska. A college education always seemed out of reach, but as high school graduation neared, we soon found various options available to help fund our dreams. Both of us received scholarships from multiple sources. “Every little bit helps” is certainly true. Tuition, room and board, and book expenses add up. To that end, we established this fund to give back to the community that helped make us who we are today. Rural communities are the backbone of America. We can only hope that this scholarship can help feed a person’s dreams just as it did for us many years ago.
What services does the ECCF offer to your family and your fund?
John Chapdelaine, director of the Eastern Colorado Community Fund, visited the Julesburg alumni dinner about a year ago. From the moment he described the ECCF, we knew it was a vehicle for us. It offers an easy and effective way to create a perpetual endowment fund; it was easier than we thought! Through John’s guidance and expertise, the process was quick, and before we knew it, our very own endowment fund was in place and growing through investment returns. With a small amount of upfront monies, the investment returns help fund the annual scholarship. The recurring annual effort on our part is minimal because the ECCF “does everything for you.”
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