The Winter family: Making a meaningful difference

Mary and Wint Winter have always made charitable giving central to their family, faith and financial decisions. They raised three daughters (Katie, Molly and Elizabeth) to understand the importance of generosity and giving back to their communities, and now their six grandchildren are also learning about the importance of charitable action. Through their donor-advised fund, the Winter family has worked with DCCF over the last year to develop a new grant program for nonprofits engaged in making a meaningful difference in the lives of at-risk and vulnerable children and families in Douglas, Franklin and Johnson counties in Kansas, as well as in Taos County in New Mexico. “We want to focus on giving back to the communities that have given so much to us,” Molly says. “Dad grew up in Ottawa, my mom in Johnson County. My sisters and I were raised in Lawrence and this town will always be ‘home’ to us. For five generations, our family has been visiting Taos, New Mexico, so that land and people also have a strong place in our hearts. The idea is to focus our financial giving to these regions to show our gratitude.” “The DCCF Team made an otherwise challenging process easy to understand and navigate,” Wint says.

Wint explains, “As we drafted and agreed on our mission statement and the focus of our resources, Chip, Heather and Lori magically provided the templates for our application, grant decision process and the other mechanics, so that we could focus on which of the many worthy charities and worthy causes we support.” The first round of Mary and Wint Winter, Jr. Family Fund grants will be awarded in December 2019. For grant application guidelines and information about other grant programs at DCCF, please visit our website at www.dccfoundation.org.