2/22/2017 10:21:32 AM
The story of how the Minnesota Veterans 4 Veterans Trust Fund was created is a unique one. It was first established in early 2006 pursuant to Minnesota Statutes, Section 197,133. The Statute required that the irrevocable Trust be created upon the disposition of Big Island Veterans Camp—Lake Minnetonka, a Minnesota nonprofit corporation, of its interest in certain real estate located in Hennepin County, Minnesota (“Big Island”).
The Camp sold Big Island to the City of Orono on January 5, 2006 for $5,700,000 (the “Purchase Price”). As required by the Statute, the balance of the purchase price remaining after payment of all fees related to the sale of Big Island was contributed to the Trust. The Big Island Board of Governors was then dissolved.
The Trust established was named the MN Veterans 4 Veterans (V4V) Trust Fund. The above statute required that the Trust Directors be two members each, appointed by the American Legion, Disabled American Veterans, the Military order of the Purple Heart and the Veterans of Foreign Wars. The reason the statute dictated the appointment process above was to ensure diversity and broad Veterans organizational experience on the board. See current board at: http://mnv4v.org/about-us/board-of-directors/.
Each year the board of directors, each of which have long term experience in their respective Veterans organizations, along with the Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs leadership, and the Minnesota County Veterans Service Officers Association dedicate time to discuss and assess the Minnesota Veterans community to understand the needs, the gaps, and the opportunities that exist and then calibrate strategic plans and areas of focus.
Currently (2017 - 2019) the strategic areas of emphasis are to increase the positive impact on Veterans and those who provide support to them in the following areas:
The V4V Trust Fund Board meets monthly to review and discuss grant applications. Applications are accepted on an ongoing basis and they are reviewed initially by a grant administrator at US Bank (the V4V financial portfolio management firm). The administrator will work with the applicant to ensure the application is complete and fits the organizations areas of focus prior to review by the board of trustees. All grant applications the board approves are given final approval by the Commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs.
The MN V4V Trust Funds 1st grant was awarded just 10 years ago, and since that time they have made a significant impact in bringing a better quality of life to Minnesota Veterans via grants awarded. The impact over our 10 year history can be summarized with these statistics:
See more info about the MN Veterans 4 Veterans (V4V) organization at: http://mnv4v.org/.
