President's Letter

Dear ICF Supporters:
A couple of weeks ago, I had the chance to travel to southeast Idaho to meet with fundholders, grantees and community leaders.  Over a span of four days, Rich Ballou (our Philanthropic Advisor in east Idaho) and I met with about 50 people in American Falls, Pocatello, Soda Springs, Malad and Preston.

Thank you to ICF Board Members — Mary Vagner, Ron Gallegos and Stephen Weeg — and ICF East Regional Council Member Hailey Lusk for all their help in setting up appointments. 

While there, we hosted open houses for ICF grantees in American Falls and Malad, who are, of course, very familiar with our work. We also met with a number of fundholders, who again, are very familiar with our work. But throughout the week we also met with elected officials and other community leaders who had very little knowledge of the Idaho Community Foundation, if any at all. 

Next year, the Idaho Community Foundation will turn 35 years old. During our history, the Foundation has made more than $153 million in grants in all 44 of Idaho’s counties. However, we are still one of Idaho’s best kept secrets. We are actively working to change that. 

It would be nice if everyone in Idaho knew about ICF and our important work of enriching communities across the state, but not everyone has to know about us to continue to grow and do even more for the place we call home.

We do need more community leaders to know about the grants the ICF is making in their towns. We need more people who want to take care of the community that took care of them know that ICF is an important vehicle to help them achieve their philanthropic goals.

We need more estate attorneys, accountants and financial advisors to know we can help their clients with their philanthropy when they advise them of their options. 

As part of our ICF family, we’re asking for your help with this. Please spread the word about the Idaho Community Foundation. Refer people to our website and our social media – we are @IdahoCF on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn. If you want someone from ICF to speak at a gathering of community leaders in your town, please let us know.
Idaho needs the Idaho Community Foundation to not only continue our work but increase the amount of impact we make. The first step in making that possible is making sure we aren’t Idaho’s best kept secret anymore. 

Thanks for your help. 

Best wishes,

Steve Burns

Supporting rural Idaho: Scholarships and community grantmaking for Lemhi County

We are excited to announce the creation of a $3.5 million charitable giving fund and an additional $500,000 scholarship, both established at the Idaho Community Foundation by Nep Lynch, a Montana native who lived in Salmon for decades.

The Nep and Mary Ellen Lynch Fund and the Nep and Mary Ellen Lynch CTE Scholarship will support generations of students through the Idaho Career & Technical Education Foundation for trade school scholarships; provide Forever Idaho grants to community organizations in Lemhi County and throughout Idaho; give scholarships to graduates of Salmon High School and those attending community colleges; provide maintenance at the newly opened Lynch Center athletic facility in Salmon and more. Both funds are endowed, so the support will last forever.

Nep Lynch – full name Neptune Alexander Lynch, IX – is 96 and grew up on a cattle ranch outside of Plains, Mont., about 74 miles northwest of Missoula near the Idaho border.

A hard worker his entire life, Nep got his first job at the age of 12 making $2 per day in the grain fields. “The next year my dad let me take the bundle wagon, I got $2 a day for the bundle wagon, and I got $2 a day for myself. That was the first real money I made,” he said.

Nep dedicated his career to the professional technical trades. Much of it was spent in lumber, where he worked every job possible at logging camps and lumber mills, eventually owning mills in Montana and Idaho.

“I’ve probably had 15 jobs in my lifetime and none of them were ever easy,” Nep said.

He married his high school sweetheart Mary Ellen Livingston the summer after he graduated from high school. While Nep was working his way up the ladder at logging camps and mills, Mary Ellen worked as a camp cook. It was a challenging life, and they were a strong team.

“It makes you wonder how many women would do that. I think most would probably hit the road if they had to move into a shack and not have any facilities,” Nep said.

The Lynches were avid bowlers and moved to Salmon in the mid-1950s to build and run a bowling alley with a friend. A few months after the bowling alley opened, Nep realized running the business didn’t suit him. “I decided that I really wasn’t a people person,” he said.

The family, which by now included sons Nep, Jr. and Jay, decided to stay in Salmon. Nep started working for North Fork Lumber, which he later owned. The Lynches retired in the mid-1970s and enjoyed many years of travel. Mary Ellen passed in December of 2018.

In recent years, Nep, who lives most of the year in Missoula, has worked with former Idaho Community Foundation Board Member Bill Allen, a CPA in Salmon, to donate to community organizations he cares about.

“At my age you can’t take it with you. Having lived in the Salmon and North Fork area for 50 years, I like the area. I wanted to help out,” Nep said.

In addition to his ICF charitable giving fund and scholarship, he created a fund at the Montana Community Foundation to assist community organizations there. Nep also provided primary financial backing for two state-of-the-art gymnasiums – the Lynch Center in Salmon and the Plains High School Gymnasium in his Montana hometown.

Simplifying the process: Croy Canyon Ranch Fund to benefit The Senior Connection

At a retirement lunch last month to celebrate Teresa Beahan Lipman’s final day as executive director of The Senior Connection in Blaine County, she and her successor Jovita Piña learned that an ICF fund had been transferred to their organization and would provide nearly $5,000 every year in flexible funding.

“What a way to end her career and what a wonderful news for me as the new executive director,” said Piña. “This gift will help us to extend our reach and serve even more of our fast-growing senior population.”

The gift came from the advisory board of the Croy Canyon Ranch Fund, which was established at the Idaho Community Foundation to build a continuing care community in Blaine County. When that effort ended, the advisory board decided to use the endowment to support community organizations that work with seniors.    

After a few years of making small grants spread across several community organizations, the advisory board decided they wanted to make a larger impact and take themselves out as “middle women.”

“It was time to simplify the process,” said Kathleen Eder, an advisory board member. “The Senior Connection was the best and most obvious organization to receive this fund because they exclusively touch the lives of our seniors on a daily basis.”

ICF Senior Philanthropic Advisor Lisa Bearg said it’s not unusual for ICF funds to evolve over time as circumstances change.

“They are not alone in wanting to find streamlined options for their philanthropy,” Lisa said. “There are ways we can modify a charitable giving fund to still meet the donors’ intent – in this case helping seniors in Blaine County.” 

The Senior Connection provides congregate lunches every weekday, in addition to Meals on Wheels, home caregiving services, transportation, adult daycare and respite care, and a fitness center with classes.

Their Idaho Community Foundation fund can be used to support any of their programs, services or future growth, which Jovita said is especially important.

“Our funding needs can change from year to year, so having that flexibility allows our staff to focus on growing our programs and services,” she said.

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