The Twin Lakes Community Foundation has cleared one major hurdle in its goal of pairing up dreamers and doers - it has qualified for the Partners Program of the Walton Foundation.

The Partners Program provides matching funds from the Walton Foundation for all contributions to the TLCF's permanent endowment funds.

This means the first $50,000 given to TLCF will be matched by $50,000 from the Walton Foundation, according to Sam Rhoades, chair of the Foundation's board of directors. TLCF's operating fund also will receive matching funds - $20,000 from the Walton Foundation for the first $20,000 donated to TLCF.

The locally operated Foundation was formed to fill all sorts of charitable needs throughout Baxter and Marion Counties and parts of Fulton and Izard counties. It is a local affiliate to the Arkansas Community Foundation, Rhoades said. It is a 501(c)(3) public charity created to receive and manage charitable funds on behalf of individuals, families, foundations, nonprofit organizations and corporations. The funds are managed for the benefit of the local Twin Lakes Area.

"It will give donors the opportunity to give money but keep control of it to the extent that it may benefit their pet project," board member Deborah Knox said earlier. "People can donate for specific bequests or for unspecified bequests. The foundation could work hand in hand with an existing charitable organization."

Knox said around $39 million is available from the Walton Foundation to help set up these organizations with operational funds as well as matching funds for other gifts.

"Walton is helping us to help ourselves," Rhoades said. "It is giving us the initial operating money for office expenses - up to $20,000 per year - and an additional $50,000 per year for donor-designated endowments or permanent funds. The Foundation is not aligned with any particular association but, instead, may be used to benefit anything from the Christian Clinic to Arkansas State University Mountain Home, or Baxter Regional Medical Center, the Baxter County Library or local schools.

"The Arkansas Community Foundation, based in Little Rock, has been in operation for 25 Years across the whole state," Rhoades said. "It has affiliates in local communities statewide."

"The Walton Foundation gives an incentive for affiliates to get going. But, there is certain criteria we had to meet to qualify - we had to have a team of volunteer  board members, we had to hire an executive director and we had to show a financial commitment by committing funds to an operating endowment," he said.

The board members were in place by April and the endowment fund received initial commitments from The Bank of Yellville, First National Bank, TrustBanc, Peoples Bank and Rhoades and Wife, Mary.

TLCF recently hired Estella Tullgren as part-time executive director.

"The objective of the Foundation is to connect dreamers with doers, beginners with experts, givers of vision with givers of means, and creators of service with creators of wealth," according to a press release. "This is a long-term project," the release said. "The Twin Lakes Community Foundation hopes to build a large, permanent pool of charitable capital. This pool can grow over the years, and the greater earnings can be granted for local purposes."

With the help of the Arkansas Community Foundation and the Walton Foundation, TLCF should be able to grant $10,000 to service groups in the Twin Lakes Area between now and June 2003, according to Rhoades.

In order to build the operating endowment, a Founder's Circle has been established. Membership requires an annual donation of $100, for a period of five years, he said.

According to the Arkansas Community Foundation's Web site, as of Aug. 31. the local Foundation has set assets in excess of $67,000.

"The success to this point and in the future depends on the board members," Rhoades said. "We appreciate their work to date to qualify for the Walton Foundation."

The Community Foundation is a long-range project and one that we plan to build funds for over a period of time - year after year after year, forever," he said. "Our goal is to reach $50,000 in five years."

In addition to Rhoades and Knox, other board members include Judy Loving, Roger Bates, Ed Coulter, Randall Drake, Barbara Graham, Paul Johnson, Ann Jones, Elton Kirby, Layton Lee, Don Ott, Denny Smith, Carol Sward, Karen Wallace, Paul Wilbur, Sara Zimmerman, Mark Newton and Barney Larry.

For more information, contact Tullgren at 425-2694 or email her at tullgren@cox-internet.com. Visit the Arkansas Community Foundation's Web site at www.arcf.org and click on "Affiliates" to find out more information about TLCF.