The beginning of South Central Community Foundation can best be described by the words of Margaret Mead, “Never doubt that a small group of committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”  In the early 1990s, a group of committed, future-focused citizens met to discuss how they could retain resources in the area for the benefit of charitable work.  Through their vision, South Central Community Foundation was incorporated in 1994 and began to work toward their mission of “Assuring a Bright Future for South Central Kansas”.  They began by gathering endowment funds to benefit charities in six counties including, Barber, Comanche, Kingman, Kiowa, Pratt, and Stafford .  It wasn’t long before Rice County joined the organization.

Jud and Bobbe Stanion kicked the community foundation off to a good start by donating business assets, which established endowment funds for each county as well as establishing the Community Impact Fund.  In addition, donors were asked to commit resources over a three-year period to establish the Founders Endowment Fund that supports the administrative expenses of the foundation.  Following are the original Founders of SCCF: 

• Mr. and Mrs. Norman Barker
• Dr. and Mrs. Patrick Barker
• Brendon Barker
• Joshua Barker
• Timothy Barker
• Dr. and Mrs. Theil Bloom
• Mr. And Mrs. George Burket
• George Chandler Family
• Mr. And Mrs. Richard Cramer
• Ms. Miriam Eads
• First National Bank in Pratt
• First State Bank & Trust Company
• Alan Hanson, Attorney at Law
• Annette Jay
• Mr. And Mrs. LeRoy Jones
• Mr. And Mrs. Bill Keller
• Kennedy & Coe, L.L.C.
• Eleanor Kerr
• Mr. And Mrs. Fred Kerr
• Dennis Lesh
• The Peoples Bank
• Pratt Community College
• Pratt Regional Medical Center
• Mrs. Brette Riley
• Mr. And Mrs. Jud Stanion
• Mr. And Mrs. Charles Taylor
• Dr. and Mrs. James Van Blaricum III

Over the last ten years, generous donors have established endowment funds which has built the community foundation assets to more than $6 million.

In 1996, South Central Community Foundation awarded their first grants, and disbursed $1,200 to five organizations.  From this humble start, the community foundation, today, gives away more than $200,000 in grants.

For the first six years, Pratt Regional Medical Center and Pratt Community College donated administrative personnel to oversee the daily operations of SCCF.  Administrative efforts from DeWayne Bryan, Sandi Fruit, Fran Brownell and Heather Huntington-Fuez, along with hundreds of volunteer hours from SCCF Board members, got the foundation off to a great start.

In 2000, SCCF hired Denise Unruh as their first Executive Director and opened their office at 105 West Second in Pratt , Kansas .  Since that time, they have added Maggie Southard, youth advisor to the “Youth Making a Difference” program. 

“Youth Making A Difference” consists of twenty high school students from seven counties who learn about philanthropy, leadership and community needs culminating in giving away thousands of dollars in grants each year.

All aspects of SCCF: assisting donors, managing charitable dollars, giving grants, providing estate planning services, working with youth and collaborating on community solutions, create an organization that is  “Assuring a Bright Future for South Central Kansas.