Gratitude

CFNEIA

June 1, 2017

Steve and Stacie Brass are successful business owners with lots of responsibility, but it’s clear the priority and heart of their 22-year marriage is their children, Alyssa, 19, Nick, 16, and Lindsey, 10. “Between business, kids, family, and church, we think life is full and rewarding,” said Stacie.

Stacie serves on the Board of Directors of the Community Foundation of Northeast Iowa, and she and Steve decided to take their gratefulness and turn it into good by establishing the Steven and Stacie Brass Family Fund. “We are just starting to build our fund but we have been privileged to have successful careers and businesses that allow us to do things for others,” said Stacie. “I wanted to start modeling that for our children and involve them in philanthropy at a young age.”

The couple plans to use their fund to make grants to charities supporting kids with special needs. They have been influenced and inspired by their youngest daughter, Lindsey, who has a severe form of epilepsy. “Sometimes we think about families who don’t have those resources or the ability to take a week off to spend at the Mayo Clinic. What does that look like for the kid with the same condition she has?” said Steve. “Even though it is a challenge to have a kiddo with special needs, there are a lot of collateral blessings that come along with it. It’s a way to someday make someone else’s life a little easier,” said Stacie.

As business owners, and with Stacie’s career in financial planning, they also view the fund through a different lens. “This is legacy planning. It’s a fund that will live beyond us and be professionally managed. Having the opportunity to serve on the Foundation Board, I get to see how well it is run and how efficiently the assets are managed so we know our wishes will be executed well beyond us. It is more efficient to do it through a community fund,” said Stacie.

“I like the idea that our fund leaves a legacy that will extend beyond our lives and well into our children’s,” said Stacie. “It will make a difference in a child’s life someday or for something a family couldn’t otherwise provide. I’m confident it will be able to do that over time.”