Seventy-two padded folding chairs purchased at the school

By Tucker Henderson

Reporter

Though the Footprints Foundation is best known for its extensive work with local scholarship funding for New York Mills High School graduates, its mission extends a bit beyond into the greater community in addition to hosting legacy funds.

Recently, the board of directors donated a set of 72 folding chairs to the NY Mills School for use in commencements, sporting events and more. The chairs are foam-padded and feature the Eagles logo. The new chairs will replace the formerly used folding chairs which have been in service for a number of years.

“The chairs that have been used for commencements and all that, nobody actually knows how old they are, but they have served their purpose and they’ve been very good to us,” said treasurer Stephanie VonRuden. “But it was time for a refresh and it was fun to be able to brand it with our school. They’ll be able to utilize them for commencements and also during sporting events—wrestling matches, volleyball meets—all those things and our school logo will be very present.”

The donation came from designated funds from the Buerkle Family/Farmers & Merchants State Bank Fund within the Footprints Foundation community giving designation. A small amount of funds is set aside each year by the board to “provide grants to aid in the rehabilitation and beautification of the community within the school district,” according to their brochure.

“A very small part of our budget gets allocated to these funds,” said VonRuden. “Our main focus is certainly the scholarships, but on a request basis, they go through out board and the decision making process to make sure that it’s a responsible choice for us to do so we can continue building the other funds as well.

“Something substantial that will make an impact for a long time,” she continued. “As a committee, we were trying to think, I think the last community grant was when Footprints purchased the grand piano in the auditorium in the school. Prior to that, it was computers for the Public Library. Those are probably the two last community-driven grants.”

As the Foundation’s primary focus is hosting around 41 local scholarship accounts, the community rehabilitation and beautification within the school district takes a back seat to the scholarships. That’s not to say they aren’t an important part of Footprint’s mission, however, as the large donations they make are carefully considered and are long-lasting contributions.

“We’re always looking for families that are looking for a 501c3 to contribute to,” said VonRuden. “We do accept Thrivent Choice Dollars if anybody wants to utilize those. It’s fortunate that we’ve been getting more scholarships, it’s a good way to carry on those legacies, to be able to have something to continuously be in honor of somebody.

“The majority of the scholarships that flood through the school are ran through Footprints, which is unique to our community, because a lot of communities run through a larger organization, but this way, the funds contributed stay in our community and are invested that way also,” she continued.

The organization’s mission is to “carry out the wishes of the benefactors of the foundation through the use of their endowed funds or other grants to the foundation.” These are supported through scholarships, community funding and grants to local nonprofit organizations, as well as the promotion of arts and sciences and preservation of the historic heritage of this area.

Footprints Foundation awarded $38,900 in scholarships to local NY Mills High School seniors in 2024 and will continue to be the fiscal host for local scholarships for the educational enrichment of generations to come.