Prairie Springs Recreational Trail Association $2,150 Away From Meeting Matching Gift Opportunity, $30,000 Grant Received from CFNEIA
Howard County Community Foundation
December 22, 2021
The Prairie Springs Recreational Trail (PSRT) Association is $2,150 away from meeting its initial $20,000 matching gift goal for its endowment fund and is asking the community for support.
In the summer of 2021, PSRT Association along with local donors, John and Jo Ann O’Byrne and Amy Bouska, established both permanent and quasi endowment funds with the Howard County Community Foundation, an affiliate of the Community Foundation of Northeast Iowa. In addition, the donors offered a combined $20,000 in matching funds for gifts made to the Prairie Springs Recreational Trail Endowment Fund. The opportunity is a dollar for dollar match, meaning if PSRT Association raises $20,000, the O’Byrnes and Bouska will give $20,000 to double the money. Donations will go to the fund to increase the impact for the trail and all who enjoy it.
Gifts can be made online at fund.cfneia.org/prairiesprings-endowment. Gifts of cash/check and stock are also accepted through the Community Foundation of Northeast Iowa, 3117 Greenhill Circle, Cedar Falls, IA, 50613, which is the administrative office of the Howard County Community Foundation. Checks should be made payable to the Prairie Springs Recreational Trail Endowment Fund.
The Prairie Springs Recreational Trail Endowment Fund is professionally managed and invested to grow over time. Gifts to the endowment fund are also eligible to receive a 25% state tax credit through the Endow Iowa program in addition to normal tax deductions as allowed by law. More information about Endow Iowa can be found at cfneia.org/endowiowa.
PSRT Association was established 20 years ago to bring outdoor health and fitness activities to the Cresco area by trail. The three-mile paved trail is accessed from downtown Cresco at Balk Park to Vernon Springs, winding along the Prairie’s Edge Nature Center next to the Turkey River.
Today, the PSRT Association is working to join forces of Howard and Winneshiek Counties, and the three cities of Cresco, Ridgeway, and Calmar, to provide scenic and multipurpose trails to improve the quality of life in these rural areas. The PSRT Association is also part of a regional economic development collaboration to connect trails in northeast Iowa and, eventually, to neighboring counties in Minnesota.
“A strong regional collaboration with the support from CFNEIA has taken our crazy dream of expanding trails in northeast Iowa and Minnesota and made it a reality. In rural Iowa we couldn’t do this without regional partners,” said Spiff Slifka, secretary of the Prairie Springs Recreational Trail Association.
At its Celebration of Community event in November, the Community Foundation of Northeast Iowa awarded PSRT Association a $30,000 mission fulfillment grant which will be used to support the rural economic development project.
“The funding from CFNEIA is not just a grant to our organization,” said Slifka. “It’s about making a difference in our rural communities and we are humbled.”
Questions about giving may be directed to Terry Gaumer, affiliate development director with the Community Foundation of Northeast Iowa, at 319-243-1354 or tgaumer@cfneia.org.
More information about the Howard County Community Foundation can be found at howardccf.org.
