Our History

Updated June 2016

 

At the request of a prominent local family who wished to establish an endowment in honor of their father, the PONCA COMMUNITY EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION (PCEF) was established when the original Articles of Incorporation were filed on October 5, l984. This non-profit and charitable corporation was filed under Section 501 (C-3) of the Internal Revenue Code for the expressed purpose of enhancing the quality of education in the Ponca School District.

The original incorporators included the following interested citizens:

Harley Bossman, Florence Curry, Richard Dohma, Lionel J. Froseth, Virginia Iverson, Bruce Karpen, Jerry Knerl, John Kingsbury, Stanley Leigh, Fern Mendenhall, Mary Persinger, Virgil Putman, A.B. Scheffel, and Phil F. Verzani.

 

The Articles of Incorporation were amended and/or revised a number of times when final approval was given on January 21, l987. The time lapse between 1984 and 1987 was due to a number of reasons including an illness and changing of attorneys.

The original Board of Directors included:

Stanley Leigh, President

Richard Dohma, Vice-President

Mary Persinger, Secretary

Lionel J. Froseth,Treasurer

Bruce Karpen

John Kingsbury

 

On February l, l982, the Ponca Board of Education had established the Ponca Community Scholarship Fund, which was disbanded, when the PCEF was established, and all funds were turned over to the PCEF. The first annual meeting of the corporation was held on January 12, l988.On the same date, the Board of Directors met and elected officers and approved the By-Laws. Also, the Directors took action to set the lifetime

membership fee at $100. There were 42 original charter members who are noted in the annual brochure. The Honor Roll of Donors was initiated in 1993 with alumni, and community-minded citizens contributing annually to the PCEF. The PCEF began awarding scholarships and printed its first brochure in 1988. Since then the PCEF has expanded its awards and grants to include special use awards, teacher endowment grants, emergency help grants, and special school projects.

 

As the PCEF celebrated it’s 20th anniversary in 2004, we revisited all the organizations who were members of the Foundation, thanked them for their continued support, and celebrated with anniversary cupcakes.

 

For the 25th anniversary in 2009, the Board of Directors marched in the Days of '56 Parade and celebrated with the Ponca community by distributing anniversary balloons and parade candy.

 

In 2014, the PCEF celebrated its 30th anniversary. A challenge was made by the Board of Directors to enroll 30 new members in honor of the 30th year. At the brochure time in May, 51 people/organizations had become new lifetime members. 

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2015 marked the retirement of Nancy Walsh from the secretary position of the PCEF. Nancy provided a wealth of knowledge to the board and was replaced by Sue Fox. 

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In 2016, charter member and past PCEF President, Lionel Froseth resigned from the board. Lionel is a large part of why this foundation exists today. Due to his passion for the Ponca Public School District, we are still in existence 32 years later.

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In 2019, our 35th anniversary, we were able to reach our goal and attain over $1 million dollars in assets.

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The Foundation continues to support and promote quality educational programs of Ponca Public Schools!