by Alyssa Takeda

The Clovis Community Foundation, a project started four years ago by an MBA consulting team formed by Dr. Mark Keppler, executive director of Fresno State’s Maddy Institute, is using money from home sales to transform the city.

The foundation already has provided matching money resulting in more than $200,000 worth of improvements to the growing Clovis community.

The foundation’s roots are in a brief conversation between Keppler and Clovis City Manager Kathy Millison. Keppler was involved in a project that raised $900,000 in grant money for 13 miles of trails in Clovis and northern Fresno.

Millison said she wished she had $10 million for community improvements, so Keppler decided to form a student consulting team to make it happen.

Beginning last year, the foundation began receiving donations of one-tenth of 1 percent of the price of each house sold by developers Wathen-Castanos, Leo Wilson and Gary McDonald. Similar donations are promised with each re-sale.

Kevin Castanos and partner Richard Wathen of Wathen-Castanos said, “A great community requires our on-going involvement and continual investment.”

One was a $50,000 donation by the foundation to the Clovis Botanical Gardens to dramatically expand beyond the existing 1.1-acre garden. Other nonprofits supported by the foundation are the Boys and Girls Club, Centerstage (Clovis Community Theatre), Children’s Museum of Central California, Clovis Performing Arts Center, Clovis Trail System and the Valley Nature Education Center.

Keppler, who volunteers as the foundation chairman, has a 10-year plan to create a $10 million endowment by setting aside 25 percent of donations annually, leaving the rest for community improvement projects in the year the money is raised. The foundation’s overhead is just 1 percent, allowing 99 percent of funds received to be re-invested in the community.

"The goal is to simply leave a community better than you found it,” said Keppler. “This project is a great example what can be done when business, civic and government leaders work together with a university that is committed to being engaged with its region."

Chris Fiorentino, director of Civic Engagement and Service-Learning at Fresno State, said, “The ingenuity of the students who conceived this idea and the dedication of Dr. Keppler cannot be understated.  This is an amazing project that will benefit our region for years to come.”

The success in Clovis has spawned a similar effort in Fresno.

For more information on the Clovis Community Foundation, please visit our Web site at www.cloviscommunityfoundation.org.

(Alyssa Takeda is a Fresno State freshman majoring in biology).