Historic Hutchinson received a $10,000 grant from the I.J. Burich Family Foundation for its project to preserve the stained glass windows at the historic Episcopal Church in downtown Hutchinson. It was one of 12 grants the Foundation recently distributed. Pictured is Tom Terhaar, left, of Ter Haar Stained Glass Studio of Cold Spring, which is doing the restoration work, and Jeremiah “JJ” Verhey, Hutchinson city facilities manager.
The I.J. Burich Family Foundation awarded a $1,000 grant for the 2021 Health and Wellness Day at Meghan’s Place in Hutchinson. Pictured are, from left, Jacob Jorgensen, program director of Meghan’s Place; Meghan Hjerpe for which the club is named; Connie Lambert of the I.J. Burich Foundation/Citizens Bank and Mona Hjerpe, executive director of Meghan’s Place.
The past year has been a difficult one for local nonprofits. The COVID-19 pandemic shut down in-person fundraising and caused the cancellation of special events.
Among those extending the hand of friendship during these difficult times is the I.J. Burich Family Foundation of Hutchinson. Since its inception in 2002, it has approved 175 grants totaling just under $700,000. Through the years, the money has been used in a myriad of big and small ways including new volleyballs for Hutchinson Junior Olympic Volleyball, a new freezer for the McLeod Emergency Food Shelf, new playground equipment for King’s Kids Preschool, and Chromebooks for Hutchinson Adult Basic Education.
The foundation traces its roots to 1996 when it was launched as the Citizens Bank Foundation. The name was later changed to the I.J. Burich Foundation after namesake Irvin Joseph Burich, bank president, who died in 2002.
According to Heather Knorr, foundation board chair and granddaughter, the foundation was started as a way for her grandparents Irv and Mary Burich to continue their long-standing tradition of philanthropy and giving back to the community. They wanted this to continue even when they were no longer alive.
“The I.J. Burich Family Foundation is committed to making grants to qualified nonprofit organizations within the city of Hutchinson and McLeod County that help to enhance and improve the quality of life,” Knorr said. “Our focus is on children, the elderly and other at-risk populations, education and the arts.”
RECIPIENTS CHIME IN
Most recently, the board approved 12 grants totaling $49,555. Recipients ranged from the McLeod Alliance and Crow River Habitat for Humanity to Historic Hutchinson, Meghan’s Place, the school district and the Hutchinson Junior League Baseball Association.
“We are over the moon grateful to the I.J. Burich Foundation and what they have provided to Crow River Habitat for Humanity,” said Lori Mittelsteadt, executive director.
The local nonprofit housing affiliate asked for $5,000 to purchase a new trailer to transport its building tools and supplies. Its request was funded and the trailer was purchased locally.
The foundation helped with the organization’s fundraising gap. According to Mittelsteadt, the COVID-19 pandemic put a total standstill on its ability to raise money.
“Every event we do was canceled,” she said. “Hammer & Nails, brat stands, Music in the Park, parades, barn sale, Thanks for Giving and so on.”
This isn’t the first time the I.J. Burich Foundation has stepped up to help this nonprofit.
“About three years ago our Habitat trailer was broken into and all of our tools were stolen,” she said. “It was the Burich Foundation that stepped up and gave us the money to purchase news tools.”
Meghan’s Place in Hutchinson received $1,000 for its 2021 Health and Wellness Day.
Although the nonprofit, private club, which serves young adults with disabilities in Hutchinson, closed briefly due to COVID, it re-opened in May 2020.
“We continue to receive amazing community support,” said Mona Hjerpe, executive director. “We received the current grant from the foundation, as well as a McLeod County CARES Act grant in 2020, and other miscellaneous donations from community and family friends in support of our activities and events.”
Like Crow River Habitat for Humanity, Meghan’s Place has received additional support from the I.J. Burich Foundation including a $2,000 grant in 2018 and $2,480 grant in 2019.
“They have been so easy to work with ... as well as generously support our efforts to serve the youth and young adults with disabilities in and around the Hutchinson area,” Hjerpe said. “We are very thankful for all they do for us and our community.”
APPLICATION PROCESS
To apply, agencies must be a 501©(3) or have a fiscal agent who is a 501©(3). Grants have ranged in size from $500 to $20,000. Grants are reviewed and awarded by the board, which meets quarterly on the second Wednesday of February, May, August and November. Current board members are T.A. “Buzz” Burich, Knorr, Jim Lyons, Connie Lambert, Daron VanderHeiden, Diana Anderson, Corey Stearns, Mary Hodson and Joe Nagel. The board is balanced to represent all areas of Hutchinson including the arts, banking/finance, corporate, education, medical, small business and volunteer/charitable organizations.
Hodson, president of the Hutchinson Area Chamber of Commerce and Tourism, has served on the foundation board since 2012.
“There is a special feeling when we can offer dollars to an organization that is providing important support within our community,” she said. “We look around the table and smile, knowing we’ve chosen well.”
Hodson sees the foundation as helping to fill the gaps for a variety of organizations and groups.
“I love when in February we usually host the groups to come in and share about their project or program that used a grant,” she said. “They are genuinely appreciative and it’s great to see the totality of what we were able to accomplish with the dollars allotted.”
It wouldn’t be Minnesota if the Hutchinson Brothers of Library Square weren’t singing in a March snowstorm. After two weeks of sunny days that had many people ready for spring, Mother Nature had other ideas. She dumped 4.6 inches of fresh powder on Hutchinson, forcing many to dig out their snowblowers once again.
So long spring
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It’s a volunteer group effort to chisel garbage from the frozen lake. Pictured from left, are, Collin Noyes, Susan Noyes, and Carter Hausladen, standing. A total of three 13-pound bags of garbage were collected during the effort on March 6.
Collin Noyes of Hutchinson, kneeling, is chiseling garbage out of the ice at Lake Erie for his Eagle Scout service project of picking up litter at local lakes. He and his group of volunteers, including Carter Hausladen, who is looking on, cleaned up at Washington, Erie and Bell on March 6.
Thanks to the efforts of Collin Noyes, local lakes Washington, Erie and Belle are cleaner.
As his Eagle Scout project, Noyes, 16, with the help of two Scout volunteers and parents took, on the task of cleaning up three area lakes at the conclusion of Minnesota's ice fishing season.
He chose Washington, Erie and Belle because he was looking for a cluster of lakes where a lot of work could be done in a short amount of time. They headed out on March 6 using a 4-wheeler to travel to ice house clusters and then fanned out from there and walked toward the shoreline, picking up litter and debris as they went.
Remarkably, after 5 1/2 hours of work and walking a total of 6 miles, the group ended up with three 13-gallon bags of garbage. The most interesting find was a gas can. Otherwise, it was food wrappers, pop bottles and a bag of human waste.
"It was much easier than I thought it would be," Collin said. "I thought there would be a lot more garbage."
One of the reasons for the small amount of garbage his dad suggested was due to the shorter ice fishing season this year. As a result, there wasn't so much garbage left on the lakes. Another thought was that anglers are getting more responsible and picking up and hauling their trash away rather than leaving it on the ice.
As far as Eagle Scout service projects go, Noyes' was low cost due to volunteers and donations. Businesses gave him permission to deposit the bags of garbage in their dumpsters.
"It was a gorgeous day," said Susan Noyes, Collin's mother. "I enjoyed it. I'm not an ice fisherman, so I don't enjoy being on the ice, but I had a good time."
PLANNING A PROJECT
The Hutchinson High School sophomore started working on his Eagle Scout project in January. As a hunting and fishing enthusiast, he knew that if debris was left on the lakes, it would pollute the area during the spring thaw.
"Clean lakes are important to everyone," he wrote in his project proposal. "Winter ice fishing can be a big contributor to pollution."
The Hutchinson native joined Cub Scouts in first grade, following in the footsteps of his parents. His dad, Jeremy, was a Boy Scout for a short time and his mom, Susan, was a Girl Scout.
Noyes has stuck with it because of "great leadership."
"You definitely find people who have the same interests," he said. "We do things as a group and have shared goals."
Following through to earn his Eagle Scout rank was a natural progression for him. While it's important to come up with a service project idea, there's a lot more to it than that. You have to execute it to a successful conclusion, which means Noyes had to get organized, doing everything from recruiting volunteers to collecting supplies.
The Dassel Boy Scout Troop had made it a tradition to clean up Lake Washington. Noyes reached out to them for advice. They told him not to push too hard due to the typically cold weather at that time of year. With Noyes focusing on Washington, Erie and Bell, the Dassel group tackled Lake Stella. Thanks to their collaboration, four lakes were cleaned up by Hutchinson and Dassel volunteers.
The best advice the Dassel Scouts gave Noyes was to take a chisel along to pry garbage frozen in the ice. Although Saturday was a picture-perfect day with the mercury hitting almost 60 degrees above zero, there was still about 20 inches of ice on area lakes.
Next up for Noyes is completing the requirements for his Eagle Scout rank. To do this, he'll need to assemble and submit a binder documenting his project, and then he'll go before a board of review to be interviewed about what he has done, what he has learned and how he has enjoyed the Scouting program. Once everything is approved and signed off, his achievement will be recognized during an Eagle Court of Honor ceremony, which if all goes well is expected to be later this year.
"At first I wanted to do it because it looks great on job applications," Noyes said. "Now I want to do it as an achievement for myself."
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Crimes such as aggravated assault, arson, burglary and murder ticked upward in larger Minnesota cities in 2020 partly due to civil unrest, Hutchinson Police Chief Tom Gifferson told the City Council last week. But those "Part 1 crimes" saw a decline in Hutchinson, partly due to COVID-19.
"I'm proud to report Hutchinson has not seen that same uptick," Gifferson said. "Our aim in 2021 is to keep it that way."
According to Gifferson's annual council report, aggravated assault crimes fell from 26 to 13 from 2019 to 2020. Auto theft crimes remained the same with 11 each year. Burglary dipped from 32 cases to 14, while larceny fell from 223 to 200. Police responded to five cases of rape, down from 13, and no cases of robbery, down from five.
"The only exception is murder. In 2019 we didn't report any," Gifferson said. "In 2020, we actually had a drug overdose at one of the convenience stores here in town. And we submitted those reports to the county attorney, requesting murder charges against the supplier of those drugs. Ultimately, those charges were declined. The county attorney felt they weren't going to be able to prove the case."
The FBI has also indicated it doesn't acknowledge an overdose as a murder, Gifferson noted, which may mean the city should change its classification.
"Part 2 crimes" such as assault, forgery, fraud, weapon violations and disorderly conduct also declined for the most part.
"Again we believe it's a trend partly because of COVID," Gifferson said. "There just wasn't as many people out in 2020."
But there were exceptions. Crimes such as disorderly conduct (79 to 112), drug abuse (102 to 125), drunkenness (79 to 112) and driving while impaired (49 to 53) all had more incidences in 2020 than 2019.
"Because of COVID people were staying home and people were drinking more," Gifferson said. "That's what we're attributing it to."
He also believes fewer residents out and about largely attributed to a decline in calls for service and a decline in arrests, but he attributed the trend to the department's focus on community patrols as well. Police answered 17,549 calls for services in 2020, down from 20,042 in 2019. Hutchinson police made 360 arrests in 2020, down from 458 the previous year.
One officer in the Hutchinson Police Department almost exclusively focuses on child protection. The officer works daily with McLeod County Social Services. In 2020, child protection incidents were largely due to neglect (about 90 incidents), physical abuse (about 90 incidents) and drug or alcohol use in the home (about 60 incidents). The officer also tracks the predatory offender compliance program, and makes certain residents on the registry are monitored.
Hutchinson police have now had a few years to grow accustomed to the department's body camera policy. Police have uploaded more than 20,000 videos containing 4,259 hours on 7,368 gigabytes of data.
"It's been nothing but a blessing for Hutchinson Police Department and the city of Hutchinson," Gifferson said. "I have yet to encounter a time where a citizen has made a complaint and it supports their complaint. Every time it has supported the police officer's point of view."
