In 2004, the City Council and then-Mayor Herb Bergson created the Duluth Legacy Endowment Fund, allowing, for the first time, a way for Duluthians and Duluth-lovers to contribute to the city and to support and continue its niceties.
Grants from the fund have paid for things such as ice skates for free loan at Bayfront Festival Park, after-school activities, picnic tables at Lincoln Park, Chester Bowl ski patrols, a new refrigerator at the Harrison Senior Center and other improvements at recreation centers, libraries and elsewhere.
Thanks to the fund, longtime residents, visitors, former residents and others have been able to remember Duluth financially, sometimes while preparing their wills.
"The Duluth Legacy Endowment Fund is an opportunity to be part of something lasting," reads a brochure promoting the fund. "It's an opportunity to ensure Duluth is a great place to live for our children and our grandchildren. Tomorrow's good starts today."
That all sounds great. Terrific, in fact.
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Except that too few people are aware of the fund and all the good it supports, as Daniel E. Markham, chairman of the fund's board, explained in an interview this week with the News Tribune and members of the editorial board. Markham was accompanied at the meeting by Mayor Don Ness who, like his predecessor, supports the fund.
To raise awareness, Markham and others are hosting a free, public reception from 4:30-6 p.m. today at the Black Water Lounge, 231 E. Superior St. They'll explain the fund's mission and kick off a communitywide fundraising push.
About $200,000 is now in the fund. Officials hope to increase that to $1 million within about five years. Grants, including much larger grants than in the past, could then be made from the interest while preserving the principal.
A contribution to the Duluth Legacy Endowment Fund is an investment in the "quality of life in Duluth year after year," Markham said. "It's a long-term investment ... that goes beyond just dealing with current interests."
Once people know about the fund they'll choose to contribute to it, Markham, Ness and others believe. But first they need to know about it.
