Joyce Bytof focuses on her legacy

board 2004-11. The couple established the Otto and Joyce Bytof Family Fund in 2006 following her cancer diagnosis. They are members of the Himebaugh Legacy Society by virtue of a planned gift.

Having seen the organization from outside and inside, Joyce pointed to the simplicity of working with the Foundation as one of the things she values most.

“You are a telephone call away from us donating money to a very worthy cause. A phone call away,” Joyce said. “I don’t have to research. I don’t have to figure things out. They say, ‘OK, thanks, we’ll take care of it.’”

The business established The Real Estate Group Foundation Fund in 2003 when agents asked for a way to support their favorite charitable causes. “This wasn’t corporate saying

we’ve got to do this. This was agents saying, ‘Let’s do something for the community,’” Joyce said.

A golf jamboree helps to provide the money and an employee committee decides which nonprofit organizations receive the grants. Joyce said she ties the giving to nonprofits where the employees volunteer or that have helped them or their families. The grantmaking has grown regionally with the company, expanding into the Green Bay, Manitowoc and Stevens Point areas.

“So through our one organization here – the Community Foundation for the Fox Valley Region – we are able to touch all of our locations, which is just super,” she said. “We want to give back

where our agents are giving back.”Joyce will use the time she has left

to keep giving back. “I believe that cancer can’t just be

cured by medicine,” she said. “If I didn’t have faith in God that he was going to continue to let me do what I can do, I wouldn’t be here.”

When she learned she was one of four people in the Fox Valley with her particular type of cancer, she and Otto invited them all to dinner to share stories of attempted treatments. Two have since died. The third she has not been able to reach.

“I know the fourth one and that’s me, and I’m not going to give up,” she said.

When someone plans a campaign for a community project in the Fox Valley,

the list of people they'd like to champion it is certain to include Joyce Bytof.

For a good cause, her answer normally would have been yes. But a long battle with a rare form of cancer has forced Joyce, chairman of the board of Coldwell Banker the Real Estate Group Inc., to be more selective.

“As my energy wanes with my illness, I can’t say yes to everything – and I want to say yes to everything. So I have to pick and choose now to do what’s important to me and to our next generation,” Joyce said.

She has placed faith in the Community Foundation to help carry on her charitable giving when the inevitable day comes by establishing funds for both her family and corporate giving.

“There are a lot of things that become important in your life when you know you don’t have as much time as you want,” she said. “I guard each moment. I want more time and more time, and yet I know I’m not going to get a lot more time. That’s what God has decided for me.”

Joyce and Otto Bytof watched the formation of the Community Foundation in 1986 with interest.

“I would say the Community Foundation gave some of the very valuable nonprofits the impetus to start and build and grow,” Joyce said. “It helped and it taught some of the nonprofit execs what to do and how to do.”

Joyce served on the Foundation’s

A newsletter for donors of the Community Foundation for the Fox Valley RegionJ u n e 2 0 1 3

Joyce and Otto Bytof

Drum roll please!FoxValley

GivingMatters.orgWe’re excited to announce another way for you to connect with us…through our new blog!

You can:• ask questions and interact with our staff.

• learn about giving trends, tools and tips to help you give smarter.

• hear about generous people and nonprofit programs making a difference in the lives of people in our community.

• reaD our reflections, opinions and general comments about topics related to charitable giving…and more. Go to foxvalleygivingmatters.orgto start following us. Invite your friends to do the same!

Welcome, Alex! We are happy to welcome a new summer intern, Alex Kent, an Appleton

native majoring in marketing, public/nonprofit management at the University of Minnesota. View Joyce’s interview at

cffoxvalley.org/Stories

Investment Performance ..... 1 year ending March 31, 2013 ..... Endowment Portfolio 8.5% ..... Benchmark 8.3% ..... cffoxvalley.org/investments .....

NeW FuNds• Dunning Family Fund

• Echoes Thrift Store Reserve Fund

• Henry, Naomi and Robert Kemper Fund (Waupaca Area Community Foundation Family of Funds)

• Living Leadership Scholarship Fund

• William and Margery Stilp Scholarship Fund (Aces Xavier Foundation Family of Funds)

• Byron and Bonnie Wendt Family Fund

• Jeff and Beth Werner Family Fund

(Created March 1-May 31, 2013)

What counts after 10 years

An interview with Insight Magazine recently gave me a reason to reflect back on my first 10 years as president/CEO

of the Community Foundation. I found that what has been most important to our success was not what happened in those 10 years, but in what has defined the community from the beginning.

The Foundation and our community are guided by strong charitable ideals. Our local culture includes a presumption that people who live here will be involved in their communities as leaders or by working in the trenches. Our businesses, corporations, organizations and, most of all, our families expect it of us.

The statistics say the Foundation’s assets grew from $90 million to $204 million in a decade that saw wild swings in the stock market. Our cumulative grants totaled $45 million at that time and have grown to more than $162 million.

The Community Foundation has grown so phenomenally over the years because we keep things simple and have a tradition of providing an excellent level of service to our donors. You trust us, you know us and we are involved in our community just like you are.

You can count on our continued dedication to earning your trust and providing better service than you expected. Your generosity deserves that!

Curt Detjen President/ CEO

D I F F E R E N C E M A K E R S

Juan “Mito” Kudaka believes history repeats itself, because he’s lived it.

At age 17, his grandfather left Japan and relocated in Peru. Even

though he was unable to speak Spanish, he succeeded enough to send his three children through college.

Mito benefitted from that belief in education and was better prepared when he arrived in the Fox Cities from Peru, at age 17.

“(Education) is a legacy that, in my case, keeps on giving,” Mito said in an interview in March, 12 days before he left to serve with the Peace Corps in Albania as part of his goal to do development work internationally.

Mito had lived most of his adult life in the Fox Cities – more than 20 years. He had directed diversity programs at both the Appleton Police Department and Goodwill Industries of North Central Wisconsin, and was a founder of Latino Link (now Casa Hispana).

“Now that I’m leaving, I want to leave a legacy,” he said. He accomplished that by establishing the Mito Kudaka Hispanic Scholarship Fund within the Community Foundation, which will grant 5% of the fund’s total assets each year to Casa

Hispana to support its scholarship program for Hispanic students.

The fund started as a future fund (which requires a minimum gift of $1,000) at the end of August 2012. Through a combination of his own money, contributions from Casa Hispana and others, and fund-raisers, by year’s end, the fund topped the $10,000 minimum making it a permanent endowment. The money will be invested prudently by the Foundation to provide an ongoing source of support for Casa Hispana’s scholarship program.

“This is a small way to support an organization I feel is worthy

of support,” Mito said, and a way to make education part of his legacy here. “I am in love with the Fox Cities. We have a caring, affluent group of people who want to challenge us to do better, otherwise we wouldn’t have a successful Community Foundation. … But at the same time, we have great needs.”

He is able to address one need, even if he isn’t among that affluent group.

“It was ridiculously simple,” Mito said about establishing a fund in his name, adding that the Foundation staff was both welcoming and helpful. He came in to the Foundation office prepared with spreadsheets and timetables to map out how the fund would operate with him on the other side of the globe, but found he just needed to sign a simple two-page agreement. “It was very, very easy,” he said.

His hope is one of the scholarships will encourage the next 17-year-old ready to contribute to the community. His advice was simple.

“If there is something you’d like to do, then propose it. If nobody’s doing it, even better, then you be the first one.

Peace Corps volunteer leaves legacy of learning

View Mito's interview at cffoxvalley.org/Stories

Mito Kudaki in Albania with U.S. Ambassador Alexander Arvizu.

Insurance good hand-me-down

I always thought I’d be taller. I come from strong Scandinavian stock, drank plenty of milk as a child, and count several close

relatives at 6’ or more. But my long-awaited growth spurt still hasn’t come, and I’ve yet to outgrow an item of clothing before it wears out.

Though not as obvious as too-small clothing, financial assets can be outgrown as well. Older life insurance policies are a perfect example – perhaps purchased when

your children were young, the ink on your mortgage was still wet when your career was just beginning. If you’ve been fortunate with your family and your finances, the “just in case” protection of that old policy might not be needed any more.

That policy could, however, serve another purpose – supporting causes that have special meaning to you through the Community Foundation or another charity. Most life insurance policies can be donated, resulting in an immediate income tax deduction and, if the policy is surrendered following the gift, and immediate support for your favorite causes.

Gifts of older policies are relatively simple, but do require the assistance of a knowledgeable advisor or gift planner. If you’ve an older policy that you might want to turn into charitable dollars, we’d be happy to be of help.

More information at cffoxvalley.org/insurance

Kim Petersen Vice President Gift Planning

“I support the Community Foundation’s Friends of the Foundation Fund because the Foundation’s work is all about community. This is one of many ways that I choose to give back to the community that has meant so much to me and my family over the years and will hopefully make a difference for others who call this ‘home.’”

– Dr. Susan May, President Fox Valley Technical College

To support our commitment to strengthening our community, make a gift of cash, securities, real estate or other assets to the Friends of the Foundation Fund.

cffoxvalley.org/friends

Making a Difference: Grants Jan.-Mar.

Families, individuals, companies and other organizations have established more than 1,200 charitable funds within the Foundation, from which they support causes they care about with grants to nonprofits across the region and the world. Together, they have enabled us to make more than $162 million in grants since our founding in 1986.

Grants by interest area:

Education

Human Services

Health Care

Religion

Arts & Culture

Community Improvement

Environment

$1,662,000

$912,000

$289,000

$261,000

$194,000

$116,000

$33,800

Total grant dollars. Number of grants.

$3.5 million 703

F r i e n d s o F t h e F o u n d a t i o n

Details and give online: cffoxvalley.org/BasicneedsFund

$150,000

$37,500 Jewelers Mutual match for its 100th anniversary

$37,500 Community Foundation

match

$75,000 from the community

Up to $150,000 matched by 2013 U.S. Venture Open

Adds up to

$300,000 to fight poverty

A deal that’s good, and true

2013 Volunteer of the YearDick Calder’s service began 21 years ago as a member of our Board of Directors and as its chairman in 1997-98. He continues to volunteer with our Members group today. In addition, Dick has volunteered on the Mielke Family Foundation board for 16 years, all but one as president. Dick was among the founders of the Celebrating Our Volunteers community gala that began in 1998 as a way to honor his friends and dedicated community volunteers Paul and Elaine Groth, who were killed in a car crash in 1997. Thank you, Dick, for all that you have done to make the Fox Valley a better place to live!

T riple your investment in real poverty solutions! Any first-time gift or increase in the amount of last year’s

gift to the U.S. Venture Fund for Basic Needs (up to $75,000) by June 28 will be matched by the Community Foundation, Jeweler’s Mutual Insurance Co. — for its 100th anniversary, and this year’s U.S. Venture Open. Basic needs and self-sufficiency are a priority for the Foundation and a growing need in our community. By working as partners, we have made great strides in identifying and addressing the causes of poverty in the Fox Valley. We can do more together!

Non-profit Organization U.S. Postage

PAID Appleton, WI

Permit No. 348

4455 West Lawrence Street | Appleton, WI 54914 | (920) 830-1290

cffoxvalley.org | info@cffoxvalley.org | fx:(920) 830-1293

ConneCt with us on soCial MeDia FroM our website!

Foundation will decide the nature of their gift

Roy and Lucy Valitchka cover the gamut of environmental groups in their volunteer work, and they want

their money to continue to contribute to that work long after they’re gone. They’ve arranged for a percentage of their estate to go to the Valitchka Family Fund within the Community Foundation to support environmental education.

Roy said he grew up in a “school of the woods” philosophy. He and Lucy have carried that forward by giving countless people the experience of gardening, maple syrup making and apple cider pressing. Roy served as board president for Mosquito Hill Nature Center and has been active with the Weis Earth Science Museum and the Barlow Planetarium. Lucy has been a leader with Wild Ones Native Landscapers, Gardens of the Fox Cities, garden clubs and the Outagamie County Master Gardeners. Both have been deeply involved with Scouting.

They said they don’t have a lot of money as a family, but they are well known for their volunteer involvements. That’s why they have made their gift plan known by becoming members of the Himebaugh Legacy Circle.

All four of the Valitchkas’ children have their own environmental credentials, but Roy and Lucy have chosen to have the Community Foundation administer their

fund after their deaths. They don’t want that duty to cause differences among their children over how they would want the money spent.

“Values change over time and we want to have an enduring set of values,” Roy said.

They’ve seen that the Community Foundation does detailed analysis in making sure grants go to the right causes, Roy said. “It works so effectively for the community. It’s there and it’s working all of the time.”

“I’m a big believer in the Community Foundation,” Lucy added.

Confirmed in compliance with national standards for U.S. community foundations (WisconsinGives.org)

John Bykowski (Chair)Keith DepiesJim EagonDr. Natalie GehringerTim HigginsJohn Hogerty

Steve HooymanMike LokensgardBarb Merry Paul MuellerBill RaathsJack RhodesCarol Sanders

Kathi SeifertMarkalan SmithRollie StephensonDave Vander ZandenJeff WernerAlan Zierler

Our 2012-13 Board of Directors

the Community Foundation for the Fox Valley region inc. is a tax-exempt, public charity established in 1986 to manage endowment and temporary funds to support the causes our donors care about most. Donors have made us the second-largest community foundation in Wisconsin and enabled us to award more than $162 million in grants. Affiliated community foundations operate in Chilton, Clintonville, Shawano and Waupaca.

Join the Legacy CircleHow do you show appreciation to a community for contributing to your family’s success, growth and happiness? Make the community one of your heirs by planning a gift to the Community Foundation and joining the Legacy Circle.

What will be your legacy?

Go to cffoxvalley.org/legacy to learn more or become a member; contact Kim Petersen, vice president gift planning, at kpetersen@

cffoxvalley.org or (920) 830-1290 ext. 19.

Roy and Lucy Valitchka