Kevin Smith and Rebecca Allen have been a part of our community for over 35 years. Rebecca was a pediatrician with the Marshfield Clinic. Kevin was a stay-at-home dad with a work history in corporate accounting and as an investment advisor/Certified Financial Planner. They raised their five children in Ladysmith. Kevin has been treasurer of Flambeau Valley Arts Association for 30+ years, has worked actively on the board of the Ladysmith Educational Enrichment Fund (with RCCF) since its inception and is a founding member of the Rusk County Community Foundation helping guide its growth to its current success.
We started this fund as part of a long-range goal of leaving a gift to our community either through bequest or a living gift. However, we acted sooner than expected to open this fund when an opportunity to sell some land at a greatly appreciated price presented itself. We didn’t want the gain in our income nor its tax liability. We gifted this property to the Rusk County Community Foundation. The Foundation then sold it with the proceeds used to open the fund. The tax savings enabled us to make a larger gift and jump start our charitable goals.
Currently the fund is a donor advised family fund. Some gifts have been made at our direction. However, we intend to let it grow and eventually convert to an unrestricted fund for RCCF to make discretionary grants from it. We have made quite a few grants from it over the years. However, its focus now is growth for a future gift.
We would encourage others to consider starting an endowed fund with RCCF. A donor advised fund can bring the family together focusing on “giving back” to their community and teaching their kids and grandchildren the values you want to impart to them.
