Dunkirk foundation celebrates 50th

Half a century ago, a Dunkirk physician felt called to create a scholarship fund for local students.

That fund led to the creation of The Dunkirk Foundation, which was founded in 1970 and is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year.

The charitable organization now has multiple funds, altogether totaling about $2 million. Most were created by donations from community members or local companies and have specific directives for how the money should be spent.

For instance, the Johnson Fund for the Dunkirk Community, created by Dr. Donald Johnson in 1997 in memory of his parents Frank and Jessie Johnson, provides grants to the Dunkirk Beautification Committee, Dunkirk Glass Museum, West Jay Community Center, Dunkirk Improvement Committee and the Dunkirk Railroad Depot. When Johnson died in 2012, he left an additional $1 million to the foundation.

Other funds are specifically earmarked for students, such as the Gaunt Memorial Scholarship Fund. It was established in 2007 after Betty Gaunt’s death in memory of her daughters, Marilee and Gayle Gaunt.

While some funds are set up to be depleted as quickly as possible, the majority are set up with a spending policy that allows the foundation to give away 4% of their value each year. That way, the funds accrue interest and continue to grow over time.

Most of the foundation’s awards are directed by donor’s wishes, but there is also a general fund with unrestricted monies. The foundation’s board, which consists of nine members, decides how to award these funds. Their current goal is to increase the amount of unrestricted funds to give the board more freedom to award grants.

“We need to develop more discretionary funds that the board can decide how to use them, have a little more latitude to decide, to get into different areas where you can be a little more creative,” said board member Chuck Huffman.

Huffman, a Dunkirk native who will soon retire from the board after 27 years, has seen the foundation grow and continue to impact the community. But he has a unique perspective; Dr. Herbert “Doc” Shroyer and Carolyn Shroyer, his stepfather and mother, were responsible for starting the foundation.

The beginning

Fifty years ago, Doc Shroyer, a family physician in Dunkirk, began to lose his eyesight because of diabetes complications. As a result, he had to close his medical practice of 20 years. He had dedicated his life to the Dunkirk community, which decided to honor him with a special night of recognition.

“They had a banner above the school stage, and the banner only had two words on it, and it said, ‘He cares,’” said Carolyn Shroyer. “And he did. His whole life just revolved around that.”

Shroyer, now 88 years old, remembers fondly how Dunkirk community members showed up for her husband that night. They even raised $3,700 to send the Shroyers on a trip to Hawaii.

“They thought he would be able to see beautiful things and it would be a wonderful experience for him,” Shroyer said. “He would not have ever had any part of that.”

Instead, Doc Shroyer wanted to find a way to give the money back to the community. A deeply religious man, he turned to prayer.

“He prayed about it one night and woke up in the middle of the night and he said he had the answer,” Huffman said. “The answer to the prayer was he needed to establish this fund that would recognize students that led a Christian-like life.”

That fund became Dr. H. L. Shroyer Christian Love Scholarship Fund, which to this day provides scholarships to high school graduates from Jay County, Niles Township in Delaware County and Jackson Township in Blackford County. While recipients do not have to be Christian, they need to live a life that shows love for others.

After setting up their scholarship fund, the Shroyers founded The Dunkirk Foundation to promote more charitable giving in the community. It was established through the First State Bank of Dunkirk, which passed the original founding document.

“Anybody in the future that would want to start some type of charitable fund for any purpose would be able to use that vehicle and not have to go through the same red tape,” Huffman said.

Shortly after, another fund was established through The Dunkirk Foundation to help pay for medical costs for Janice Eltzroth, who was battling cancer. While Eltzroth died before she could use the money raised, her fund also lives on, continuing to provide support to those with medical expenses that are not reimbursable by insurance.

The Shroyers raised their 10 children together in Dunkirk. Dr. Shroyer died in 1983 at 59.

“He was a very lovable man and very well-loved, and people just thought he was fantastic. And he was,” his wife said. “He loved this town. Dunkirk was his town.”

The impact

Huffman is proud of how the foundation has grown and contributed to the community. His involvement over the years has been a “labor of love,” giving him the opportunity to help his hometown.

“It’s amazing to me because I remember, I was a kid when it was established,” Huffman said. “I remember my parents talking about it all the way through from step one until it all got done, I have those memories.

“I guess it makes you feel a little old,” he added with a laugh.

The Dunkirk Foundation’s original goal of providing scholarships has continued over the past 50 years, board president Jesse Bivens noted, resulting in many students being able to attend college.

“Some of the letters we get back from the people that’s been helped through the scholarship program … it makes you want to volunteer more,” Bivens said. “We’re hoping that some of these people will come back and actually come back to The Dunkirk Foundation and sit on the board.”

The various funds also provide support for many community organizations, events and projects, such as the Dunkirk Beautification Committee’s tree planting after the city’s sewer separation project. The foundation has also provided funding to Webster Depot Park, Dunkirk Public Library, the Glass Museum and West Jay Community Center, among others.

One project that has received substantial support from the foundation is the Dunkirk Railroad Depot renovation, which is now nearing completion. Past grants have paid for rehabilitating the interior of the building, including adding new flooring and bathrooms. This summer, $20,000 from Johnson’s fund was awarded to the Dunkirk Industrial Development Corporation (DIDC) to pay for repaving outside of the building.

“The depot, it’s been in the city’s hands for multiple years,” said DIDC president and Dunkirk Mayor Jack Robbins, noting that the project would not have progressed as far without the foundation’s help. “Now it’s within a month or two of being ready.

“The foundation has been tremendous to Dunkirk,” he added. “There’s a lot of projects they go in. They’ve been a good asset to Dunkirk.”  

More recently, Ardagh Group donated $5,000 to the foundation to provide relief for coronavirus-related expenses in the community. That money was quickly used up.

“People have continued to trust the foundation here in Dunkirk to be a legacy for their philanthropic giving, and it’s nice to see that there are people in the community who do have a philanthropic spirit,” said Brenda Brumfield, vice president of the foundation’s board. “And hopefully then that means that it’s an organization that can continue perpetually to do good works within our community.”

Into the future

The Dunkirk Foundation’s board has discussed its 50th anniversary plans for the past two years, originally intending to host some kind of community event. However, the ongoing coronavirus pandemic forced the board to come up with another way to celebrate.

Instead, the board launched its “$50 by 50 people challenge,” which encourages members of the community to donate $50 — or what they can afford — to the foundation.

“Part of it is to raise awareness of the foundation and then another aspect is to raise some dollars that could be considered unrestricted,” said Brumfield. “We could then use (the funds) when need arises within our community.”

The board is also hoping that people will be inspired to start their own funds at the foundation, perhaps in memory of a loved one or to create a family legacy. 

“If they have specific interest areas, then they can fund those and do things with their funds,” Brumfield said. “Then all of those dollars can end up helping different people within the communities that we serve.”

To better ensure The Dunkirk Foundation’s future, the board has decided to seek a partnership with The Portland Foundation. The Dunkirk Foundation will be its own entity while existing under the umbrella of The Portland Foundation.

“We’re going to not lose our identity, but start using more of their abilities to help us grow even more,” Bivens said. “We’ll still be in charge of our destination and where we’re headed, but we’ll be giving recommendations to The Portland Foundation as we integrate ourselves into that.”

Collaborating with The Portland Foundation has already allowed The Dunkirk Foundation to create a website — thedunkirkfoundation.org — and to have its own phone number, which will be answered by The Portland Foundation staff. The foundation is also able to accept donations online.  

While the integration is still ongoing, Bivens said he doesn’t foresee any obstacles in the process.

“It’s going to be a joint venture that this will be even better than what it is today,” Bivens said.  

Over the past 50 years, the Dunkirk Foundation has grown from one fund of $3,700 to multiple funds totaling $2 million.

As it looks to the future, The Dunkirk Foundation is intent on commemorating its history — especially the couple responsible for its formation.

“That one act of kindness was the start of The Dunkirk Foundation,” said Bivens.