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A podcast focusing on the perspectives, lives, and stories of Kansans to provide greater insight into the state we all call home.
AAK_Ep33
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[00:00:00]
College Cheers
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Sydney Collins: I was scrolling on TikTok as one does Uhhuh, and there I stumbled upon a comedian, um, actually talking about Kansas, but in a really funny way. So I'm just gonna put it up to the mic. Um, we don't necessarily have to show it because it's a comedian. You can hopefully just
Comedian: schools have cheers. You know, like one of my favorites is Kansas.
They're a big basketball school. You know, they say Rock chalk Jay Hawk, but they sing it. Real slow, like you're at a Catholic mass,
Sydney Collins: the.
[00:01:00]
Introduction to the Podcast
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Gus Applequist: Welcome to ask
Sydney Collins: a podcast where we're amplifying, connecting and uncovering stories across Kansas.
Gus Applequist: And we have another great interview for you today. Um, but before we get to that, we wanted to just, uh, ask if you, if you are a returning listener, if this isn't your first episode, would you consider leaving a review for us on either Spotify or Apple Podcasts?
Sydney Collins: um, reviews help other Kansans find us, so please leave us a review.
Gus Applequist: We'd really appreciate it. And now onto our, our introduction for our guest today.
Meet Betsy Wearing
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Gus Applequist: Betsy Wearing joined us from.
Sydney Collins: Dane Hanson, uh, foundation. So they are a foundation that helps, um, Northwest Kansas. Um, they have a very widespread, um, which [00:02:00] she talks about kind of where, um, 20 some regionally counties.
Yeah, yeah. Mm-hmm. They help out. But, she's had a really amazing career, um, in the nonprofits, kind of spectrum on a, a different. Levels of that. Mm-hmm. So, um,
Gus Applequist: and Dane Hansen is a very unique organization, which you're going, if you don't already know about Dane Hansen, you're gonna learn something about them today.
So,
Sydney Collins: without any further ado,
Gus Applequist: here's our interview with Betsy Wearing.
Well, how are you today? I'm good. Good. Well, thank you for I'm good. It's Friday for coming on. Yeah. That's always a
Betsy Wearing: good day. It's good. Very good. Yeah, exactly. Well, thanks for
Gus Applequist: coming on Ask a Kansan today. Sure. Uh, could we start just by having you introduce yourself to our audience?
Betsy Wearing: Absolutely. So my name's Betsy Wearing.
I've lived in Salina for. Longer than I've lived anywhere else, although I was born in Oklahoma City, so I consider myself a Salinan. I worked for the Dane Hansen Foundation, which I hope we're gonna talk about today. Absolutely. I've been with them about 11 years. Uh, so before that I did, I was the, I had a consulting company [00:03:00] for a short time before Hanson hired me.
And then I worked for 15 years as the first, uh, president of the Greater Solana Community Foundation Director. Then, uh, before that I spent 15 years of marketing at Salina Regional. so that's probably as far back as we need to go.
Betsy's Journey to Kansas
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Gus Applequist: Well, so I do wanna ask what brought you to Kansas then from Oklahoma City?
Betsy Wearing: Actually, I was a Marymount College student, so I came to Marymount in 1980. So there gives you a little bit about how old I am and, um, I was a theater major there. Went to college, graduated in four years. had a great job at the hospital offered to me. I was actually working at the television station first.
Uh, we used to have a cable access TV station here called Channel six, and I was a news reporter and anchor on Channel six. Wow. And then went to work for the hospital. So. some people honestly still remember me from Channel six, which is kind of crazy 'cause it's been a really long time ago.
Mm-hmm. That's awesome. Like 40 years, [00:04:00] but yeah.
Gus Applequist: So.
Nonprofit Work and Community Impact
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Gus Applequist: Okay, so Hospital, greater Center, community Foundation, when did you start like realizing you might wanna leap into nonprofit work?
Betsy Wearing: Really all of those are nonprofits. So, um, when I started at the hospital, it is a nonprofit, but it feels kind of corporate.
Mm-hmm. Uh, you know, hospital does. And I just really enjoyed the work. But honestly, when I was at the hospital, I served on a lot of nonprofit boards over that 15 year period. You know, the community theater and the Red Cross and the. Um, CAPS and Martin Luther King childcare. And I've always had a passion, I think, for nonprofit work.
And my parents were all very active in nonprofit. They worked, they didn't work in the nonprofit industry, but we supported a lot of nonprofits. And, uh, so I, I kind of grew up knowing that it's our responsibility to help others in the world. So, uh, it sort of was a natural fit for me. Yeah, and I was really originally a board member [00:05:00] for the Salina Community Foundation, uh, the founding board, and then, they decided to hire a director.
It sounded like something I'd be interested in, so I did that. Then here I am working for a private foundation, so it's great.
Gus Applequist: So I'm gonna go a little bit in the weeds on nonprofit for a second. Okay. so when you're at at Center Regional, center Regional obviously does have a foundation as well, but, but you were more on the receiving end probably of, of gifts and things.
And then when you moved to Greater Salina and now Dane Hansen, you're more on the giving side. Is that fair or am I general? A
Betsy Wearing: little bit. So I was the marketing director at Regional, so I really didn't have anything to do with the foundation at that time. I was. Advertising and marketing our services and you know, working with our different departments on what their needs were and those kinds of things.
And then also kind of a little bit of employee relations together with human resources for, employee picnics. And, you know, that's, honestly, this dates me, but that's [00:06:00] kind of when it first became a big deal to have like your name on a shirt or something like that. So we would do that kind of thing.
I don't really consider that part of my foundation background, but in it was good marketing pr, which is important in every job I've ever had. So that was really good background for that. My college degree is actually in theater and secondary education, and I had a minor in journalism, so I've always loved to write.
I've always been comfortable being in front of people. Mm-hmm. And. So it's all kind of worked out. Then, the community foundation, uh, we both were receiving gifts from donors and helping donors figure out what they wanted to do and how the community foundation could be a vehicle for that. Mm-hmm. Uh, so it was receiving gifts, but it was also helping donors make grants and helping make grants in the community.
And while I was there, we started the, you know, match madness and a lot of things that are still carrying on today. Mm-hmm. So, um, that's exciting. Hansen Foundation, we do not receive gifts at [00:07:00] all. Uh, it's a private operating, it's not operating, but it's a private foundation and we, we operate from the endowment rule, so we have a large endowment that's grown from the gift.
Mr. Hansen left us 60 years ago, and what we do is find strategic ways to give that money away. Leverage it with other donors and those kinds of things.
Gus Applequist: we're, we're definitely gonna get to Dane Hanson. I'm gonna come back to that in a moment. Sure. Um, okay, so you, you moved here, you went to Marymount.
Betsy Wearing: Yes.
Gus Applequist: Um, what kept you in Kansas? Why didn't you move back to Oklahoma?
Betsy Wearing: Okay. Well, it's just a, the age old story was man, so, uh, I, I had a good job and, uh, I met someone that I thought I was gonna spend my life with. That didn't happen. Mm-hmm. But then I met another person and that did happen. Mm-hmm. So, uh, you know, I met my husband and, uh, we were married for almost 35 years, uh, before we lost him to cancer.
And so, uh, he was a native [00:08:00] linin who had left and come back. That's what kept me here for sure. A hundred percent. First it was a man and a job, and then it was just the job, and then it was a job and another man. So there you go. So anyway, sounds like a
Sydney Collins: Hallmark
Betsy Wearing: movie almost. A little bit, I guess. I don't know.
The Legacy of Dane Hansen
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Gus Applequist: when were you first aware of Dane Hansen and the work that the foundation does?
Betsy Wearing: I'd always just from living in Salina, kind of had heard about the scholarship program and I had three sons that went through, you know, high school here in Salina. So we got the mailings and things. So I always thought of them as a scholarship organization and honestly, a lot of people in Salina still think of them mostly as a scholarship organization.
but when I was at the Community Foundation before I left there, we had been approached by the handsome Foundation to help them do some work too. Expand their giving in more of their catchment area. So they, they hadn't done a lot of outreach. Most of their grants and the people that [00:09:00] knew they were a grant maker were just right around their Logan area, which is where they're base in Logan, Kansas, in Phillips County.
And they were really wanting to make sure they could. Cover more of their catchment area with their grants and they wanted to utilize the Salina Foundation to help do that. So I met with them, started working with them on that project.
Gus Applequist: I think now might be a good time for you to, if, if you would be so kind as to tell the story of Dane Hansen a little
Betsy Wearing: bit.
Sure. this is the 60th anniversary of the Hansen Foundation. Oh, cool. So I actually brought some pieces that you know, I could leave with you if you're interested. Um, Mr. Hansen was. A really unique individual. His parents, you kinda have to start with his parents. His dad was a first generation immigrant from Denmark, uh, where he moved to the United States to escape bad things that were happening in his country, uh, invasions from Germany and some things like that.
So, uh, he just decided he wanted to come to the United States. He came, he was very [00:10:00] entrepreneurial and did a lot of. Kind of failed as a farmer, uh, but then bought mills and grew those and then went into retail. And so he was, he had a large scope of businesses. And then Mr. Hansen, Dane kind of grew up.
Watching all of that. And when he was 22, he took over, became a partner in his dad's business, took over some of the retail work, et cetera. So he also very entrepreneurial, uh, people describe him as if something needed to happen in the area. They went to Mr. Hansen and he either took care of it or kind of worked with other people to make sure that it happened.
So he owned. So many businesses. He worked in the retail area with his parents for a long time, and then after his father passed away, he stayed in Logan, took care of his mom, took care of all the businesses, so eventually they got out of retail. But there's a really fun story. During World War I, Mr.
Hansen and a business [00:11:00] partner that he had at the time, uh, realized that the army needed mules to move equipment. Because think about the time period here, we didn't have a lot of, uh, tanks and those kinds of things, right? So, uh, he would scout the area, buy the mules, a mass, about a hundred mules, and then he would sell 'em all to the army.
And, uh, so he was really a creative thinker as well as entrepreneurial. Then the war ended. He had all these mules. He's like, what am I gonna do with them? So he was like, well, classic problem if they can move. Yeah, classic problem. What do I do with all the mules, right? So he, uh, he instead, he thought, well, if they can move heavy equipment for the army, they can move heavy equipment for other businesses.
So he started a road construction company, and actually his company built most of the roads in northwest Kansas. A lot of the highways we still drive on today. The bridge over the Republican River in Cloud County. Um, so a lot of, a lot of his work is still out there, uh, in addition to the foundation, [00:12:00] honestly.
he was just a man that looked around to see what needed to happen and then made sure it did.
Gus Applequist: So did he do a lot of philanthropy during his lifetime or, and, and what, how did he make this decision to, to found a foundation?
Betsy Wearing: Well, it was interesting. He, um, he was very philanthropic, but quietly in his lifetime, honestly.
he made a lot of gifts. Helped other people make gifts. Uh, there's a great story, uh, from one of our, uh, satellite deceased, but previous, um, foundation trustees who knew him for many years. And he talked about, he was working in the banking industry and he was trying to raise money for the, banker's house at the four H camp.
And so he was tasked with that. And Mr. Hanson kind of. Walked in when he was talking to one of the people he was approaching, and that gift ended up being much larger than the person that, uh, s was talking to had intended to give. And then Mr. Hanson matched it. And so, um, he did that [00:13:00] kind of thing. He was really influential, so people didn't really wanna.
Not follow his lead, I would say. Uh, but he also, for example, during the depression in the, you know, 1930, a lot of the family farms in the area were collapsing because of debt. And so Mr. Hansen made loans to them if they couldn't repay them, then he acquired the property, but allowed them to stay with really generous leases.
Oh. So we ended up owning a lot of farmland, but. People, I mean, still generations of family stayed there and worked the land and they didn't lose their homes even though they lost their property. Uh, and then later that area was really discovered to be a pretty oil rich basin. And so, the farms that he had kind of acquired during that period of time, plus another land that he had purchased, uh, ended up being
Sydney Collins: wow, probably
Betsy Wearing: the, the most significant part of his wealth.
Uh, was from that and, uh, when he was [00:14:00] older. Uh, he died when he was 82, Probably 80 or 81. I'm not sure of the date exactly. He found out that he had pancreatic cancer, so he knew what that meant. And uh, he started really studying the Duke Endowment. He was really fascinated by this whole concept of endowment and how it worked.
So he had his, um, accountant and his attorneys or whatever, help him do some research, and he said, I really wanna learn about this endowment. And decided that's what he wanted to do was set up. An endowment for his hometown of Logan and Northwest Kansas by extension. And, uh, he also had a trust that took care of his family.
anyway, that's, that's kind of how that happened. And they got it all taken care of, three or four versions of it before he finally signed the final version, in the fall before he passed away in January.
Sydney Collins: Oh, wow.
Gus Applequist: how, how much of how the the foundation works today is still.
The Hansen Foundation's Mission and Reach
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Gus Applequist: Like the same as as when it [00:15:00] was founded, or has it changed a lot over the years?
Betsy Wearing: It has changed a lot, but we still operate a lot the way he did. He, he wanted it at the beginning, I would say. So for example, the scholarship program's always been part of the foundation.
That was a very early part. We still have that program today, uh, with a separate committee that reviews all of that. Does the work, selects the student recipients. It's expanded to include like career and technical education, scholarships and some things that. Really weren't in play, uh, 60 years ago. Right.
But scholarships still maintained. So that's part of our original work. And also, honestly, we still do responsive grant making. So every single month you can write a grant to the Hanson Foundation if you're within our service area, and it's within our mission, and it'll get reviewed by the trustees.
Gus Applequist: Oh, wow.
Betsy Wearing: But that's all the same. What's different would be things like, um. Well, about 11 years ago we started doing some strategic initiative work. And so, uh, in that regard [00:16:00] we started looking regionally at what the needs were and, um, created some several strategic initiatives that are still in play today. So our work has changed a lot in that regard.
Gus Applequist: How strictly defined is the area in which you work?
Betsy Wearing: It's pretty strict. So it's a 26 county area from Saline County. If you follow Saline County, like Highway 81 North, all the way to Nebraska. Okay. And I 70 West all the way to Colorado.
Sydney Collins: So
Betsy Wearing: really like a corner. It is one corner of the state now Ellsworth kind of drops down below the interstate just a little bit.
Ellsworth County, but they're in there. Um, and we get a lot of. We're just one county over, but there's a lot of counties that are just one county over from that big square. So we call it the Magic Corner, uh, because that's the corner where Hansen Foundation is available for funding and we give about $25 million away.
Every year in those counties.
Sydney Collins: How much do you have to travel within all that? Because that's a big, that's still a big chunk. Chunk. I
Betsy Wearing: have
Sydney Collins: a
Betsy Wearing: lot of windshield [00:17:00] time. Yeah. Uh, so, um, yeah. It just depends on what's needed. Mm-hmm. The technology's great. Right? We can zoom sometimes and those kinds of things.
I go to a meeting with our trustees. At least once a month. And usually we try to meet in Hayes because of course the board doesn't all live in the same place either. Uh, but the board still meets in Logan once a month, and I zoom into that meeting. I travel a lot to the communities because most of the work that I do is with the community Foundation initiative that we have.
And so I drive to Goodland or St. Francis or, uh, Colby or Ellsworth or Wilson or Republic County or whatever. Driving's not my favorite part, but the work when I get there, that's my favorite part, you know, really working with the people in the communities, it's, it's really rewarding.
Gus Applequist: we're starting to touch some of those same communities with the work that we're doing here at the podcast, and I think it's been rewarding for us as well to, I.
To get out and actually meet people and not just see it as a map, you know, [00:18:00] uh, dot on the map or whatever.
Betsy Wearing: Right. Yeah. Well, you know, I grew up in Oklahoma City. Mm-hmm. So, pretty urban, not like New York City, but pretty urban. Right. And then I lived in Salina, which for our catchment area is the most urban.
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Uh, location for sure. So working with these much smaller communities and smaller counties, you just really learn about. The people there, their commitment to living rural, why they love what they do, where they live, how they wanna make it better. It's um, it's really inspiring to talk to the people that live out in that area.
And I love that we work, I work for some organization that is committed to that because it's, it's a little bit unusual to find an organization that really wants to support. A grant in a community of, you know, 110 people.
Gus Applequist: It strikes me that there's a lot of things that make, uh, Dane Hansen [00:19:00] unusual. May, you know, maybe unique is another word that could be used.
and correct me if I'm wrong, but it's my understanding that, that there's not like a executive director or a president of the foundation. Is that true?
Betsy Wearing: It's not. It's a really, uh, odd. Organization chart, I guess you would say. So, um, the board of trustees is a working board, so in essence, they sort of serve the role as the executive director might be.
there's seven trustees at any given time and they chair committees and they work, you know, they work together, they're involved. So, you know, I'm probably like the, maybe a. Quasi executive director a little bit. Mm-hmm. Because I'm sort of the public face of the foundation in a lot of ways.
Mm-hmm. And I'm out in the communities a lot. But the board, I don't think people realize the amount of time that the working board that we have, it's, this isn't like serving on a nonprofit board where you come in once a month and you've read the materials and you help make decisions or set a mission.
This is a board [00:20:00] that's truly making operating decisions on a regular basis. They meet with the office staff. Twice a month. They, um, they really are involved in how we can move forward with the work that we're doing. Mm-hmm. So it's, it, when I first started working with them, of course I'd been an executive director, so I understood about working with boards, but still very different.
Uh, but you kind of figure out the flow and the feel for how that works. And it's, it's good. It's great. They're all very committed to what we do. And I think more so than. Not to say anything bad about other nonprofit boards, but sometimes people really are just kind of, it's not on top of mind when you're not at a meeting.
And for this group, I think the handsome foundation work is always percolating there, uh, in their day-to-day world.
Gus Applequist: just 'cause I'm so curious, was that. By design of Dane Hansen or was that something that came later?
Betsy Wearing: Well, I think I'd have to go back to a story. It's okay. I was just curious. I [00:21:00] think I'd have to go back to a story about when the foundation started before he passed away.
I don't think Mr. Hansen had any idea of the scope of the foundation's growth. Uh, there's a really cool story. I've told it a thousand times 'cause it's my favorite story about him. The same trustee that I mentioned earlier that was out raising money for the Bankers Association. He was a young investment banker when Mr.
Hansen was working and living in Logan. And when he got ill, Cy Moyer was his name. And when he got, when Mr. Hansen got ill s went to visit him in the hospital and as he walked in, all the attorneys and accounts were walking out. They had just signed his last Oh wow. Uh, document for his estate plan. And so Sai went in.
Said hello to Mr. Hanson. Mr. Hanson said, oh, Youngs high, guess what I just did? And he said, I, you know, I wouldn't have any idea. And he said, I just signed my estate plan. And he said, guess what I did. And so I was like, Mr. Hansen, I don't have any [00:22:00] idea. And he said, uh, I, I'm creating a foundation for Logan in Northwest Kansas.
And it started with about $12 million. And he said to Sai, you know, do you think anything will ever come of it? That was the, that was the question. And Sai said, well, I mean, remember this is like 19, you know? Yeah. This was 1962 or whatever. So, uh, he said, well, Mr. Hansen, I think if they take good care of it, it could be maybe $60 million someday.
And he said, Mr. Hansen said, do you really think so? And he said, yeah, I do. So, well that was 60 years ago, and now using a 5% payout rule, we give away about $25 million from that original $12 million gift. So that's a way to answer your question on was it always that way? I mean, there was no way to understand at that point for him.
How large the footprint of his legacy would be.
[00:23:00]
Inspiring Stories and Community Initiatives
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Sydney Collins: through all your experience in all the different avenues that you've, you've had in your career, what are some of the stories that have really resonated with you as you've had these experiences?
Betsy Wearing: Gosh, there's so many. Uh, one of the reasons we started the Northwest Kansas Today magazine was to start capturing some of those stories. the issue that we just put to press today, that'll be out probably about the time this comes out. Um, had some amazing stories. There's a [00:24:00] young woman that we feature that, uh, wanted to start a theater camp for people with disabilities.
She was 16 when she started it. Wow. And it's still going. And now she's graduated from college and she's still making it work. And she's got like 40 people participating every year. And she, it's just a passion that she had and she was able to make it work. And I think sometimes that's because you're in a community that doesn't.
Say we can't do that 'cause it's too small here.
Gus Applequist: Mm-hmm.
Betsy Wearing: Um, we don't get a lot of that out there. People are kinda like, yeah, let's make it work. We, we have a great story about an entrepreneurial farmer who's like, let's, let's look at farming differently. Let's look at how we preserve farming in a different way.
So those kinds of people just inspire me because it's not just what's the next piece of equipment I wanna buy? Mm-hmm. But how can I really look at. The work I'm doing differently and how it'll change the world someday. And there's a lot of great stories. I mean, we had great stories back when I was at [00:25:00] the Community Foundation too.
One of my favorite grants from probably 20 years ago, again, a young person applied for like $500 to help, you know, update the park benches at her community park. That money, people got excited and they ended up replacing the basketball goals and redoing the bathroom and the whole community got involved.
And I think that's one of the cool things about philanthropy and small communities is that something, some spark starts and for the most part, people wanna jump in and help 'em make it happen. And there's just so much pride in community out there. Um, not that they don't have their issues 'cause everybody does, but Right.
For the most part, I, I, I'm impressed with how people, again, you know, rural by choice and, and that's a phrase I had never heard before. I went to work for Hansen. And I love it because it's, um, I think sometimes people in larger communities think, why would you ever [00:26:00] wanna live in a town of 150 people or a town of a thousand people?
And they would, they would sit you down and give you a lot of reasons why they wanna do that. Mm-hmm. So it's, it's inspiring
Gus Applequist: Northwest Kansas today is such a gift to the region. Yeah. Thank you. Um, you know, it, uh, the quality of the writing, the quality of the photography, the layout, it's all just very, very well done.
Sydney Collins: Thanks.
Gus Applequist: There's something really valuable about holding up a mirror to a place and saying, look how great you are. And I feel like that's what Northwest Kansas today is.
Betsy Wearing: Well, that's the idea really. we were just at a trustee meeting and one of the trustees was talking about, one of the counties had had their own publication and she said, I just love this.
Can we, I would like to do something like this. I'm like. We can do that. I mean, I wasn't afraid of that project at all. I knew a great designer, Julie has design, does all of our designs. She's amazing. And, I said, we'll have to hire a writer. I don't have time to write it all. Plus you need more than one [00:27:00] voice.
Sydney Collins: Yeah,
Betsy Wearing: for sure. Um, but uh, that time things were changing at the Salina Journal and, uh, I knew a reporter that, uh, was originally from Kolby, of course, in our service area. Oh. That worked out. And I'm like. I think this person would be somebody we might wanna interview. We ended up hiring her. Erin Matthews.
Yeah. And she does a great job. So, people are a little bit surprised. It's a staff of three that puts that magazine out, but, um, it's kind of a labor of love.
and fun for me to have that creative piece. Still, I'm still in my world because, uh, you know, a lot of the rest of the work is less, less so.
And I, I love to ride. I've always, always been a writer.
Gus Applequist: So you, you've mentioned that, um. In recent years, and correct me if I'm misunderstanding what you said, but, [00:28:00] but you're kind of taking a more strategic look at mm-hmm. Your region of focus and trying Absolutely.
Addressing Key Issues in Northwest Kansas
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Gus Applequist: Look at, you know, what the big issues are and how to systemically address them.
I mean, would, would you mind just kind of naming some of those issues that you're trying to address?
Betsy Wearing: Sure. So we started back in. 2017 was the first strategic initiative we launched. Actually maybe a little before that the organization had started another nonprofit called the Innovation Center. And that's really an economic development organization serves the same 26 county area that we do.
And they do things that we can't do as a charitable organization, uh, due to tax structures and things like that. Uh, so they can help small businesses and make loans and, um, they're now the small business development center for that area. And they do, they do that kind of work. so that was probably the first real strategic thing that the foundation did.
Early Childhood Literacy Initiatives
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Betsy Wearing: Then we launched an initiative for early childhood [00:29:00] literacy. So that's how we, um, pay for the Dolly Parton Imagination Library for all the children in our area, which of course now is statewide, which is exciting. Like to think we had just a tiny bit of influence mm-hmm. In that kind of a thing. We're, we're sort of a great pilot area for things that may wanna go statewide.
Mm-hmm. Because we cover a large portion of the state. so that early childhood literacy was the first one. Northwest Kansas Reads is what we call it. We also do some are reading grants as part of that.
Educational and Arts Programs
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Betsy Wearing: Um, and then we did Northwest Kansas learns, which a lot of people don't know as much about, but unless you work in a school.
Mm-hmm. Uh, so we went to organizations that were outside of our area, like the Can, the Cosmosphere and the Kansas Learning Center for Health. Mm-hmm. And the Eisenhower Foundation and Rolling Hills Zoo, even though they're in our area. and we said, what kind of great educational programming do you have for youth that you can bring into our classrooms?
Because as I like to say, not really anybody I know wants [00:30:00] to get on a bus full of fourth graders. Yeah. In Sharon Springs, Kansas and drive to the Cosmos field. Oh my gosh. Uh, and back in one day. Yeah. So, um, we felt like our kids were kind of missing out. A lot of really cool things that were right here in the state of Kansas.
But they weren't getting exposed to them. So we pay a hundred percent of the expense for those organizations to come out and bring that kind of educational material to any teacher in any classroom in our northwest Kansas area for, uh, public schools. Uh, so that, that's been a fun initiative. We also did an arts initiative because we did a pro project called Strategic Doing, where we went out and said.
Tell us what you need, tell us what you're doing, what's good, what's necessary. And that's where some of these initiatives came from, especially the arts initiative. So we partner with MidAmerica Arts Alliance out of Kansas City area and. They have a great program where if you want to bring in an artist in your community, um, they can pay for [00:31:00] 50% of that artist fee.
Wow. Then we would pay for the other 50% if it's in our area. Mm-hmm. Those are all out of state artists, so that's part of their mission is to bring different artists into different areas. We'll also pay 50% if it's a Kansas artist, but they also have to do community outreach while they're there. Mm-hmm. So that's been a fun program to help bring in a lot of.
Theater programs and vocal performances and things like that in our communities. Um, so that, that one got launched. And then we did, um, a leadership launch where we tried to help communities that wanna do leadership programming. Um, so let's see, which 1:00 AM I missing? That's Learns and Reads and Arts.
Childcare and Housing Initiatives
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Betsy Wearing: Oh, and then the Childcare Northwest Kansas Cares for kids.
So, um, there's about six different childcare grants that we do. 'cause clearly a huge issue. Statewide.
Gus Applequist: Yeah. Um,
Betsy Wearing: and also Innovation Center has a childcare specialist now that's helping communities address their childcare [00:32:00] needs. What's, what's best for them. Do they need more home providers? Do they need a center?
Do they need, uh, small centers? You know? So we we're pretty deep into that. And then we've done a lot of work in housing as well. So right now we have a program that's offered through the Innovation Center, funded by the Hansen Foundation, partnering with the state of Kansas. To build new homes in northwest Kansas.
Um, so they're going and blowing doing that. It's been great.
Gus Applequist: You know, $25 million is a lot of money. Um, it's not as much as it once was. Obviously it's not. Yeah. but it strikes me that northwest Kansas is probably, uh, one of the regions in the country that can make that money go as far as anywhere.
And
just the breadth of the things you just described is, is remarkable.
Betsy Wearing: Well, I think we try to be strategic with how we spend it. Of course, like every good funder, we try to leverage as much as we can. So like, for example, on the housing program, we were really [00:33:00] appreciative of the state's participation in that program.
We've got some childcare work we're doing now for sustainability. The state's also been a big partner in that with us, so, department of Commerce has been really Active in the last few years in rural areas, so that's been helpful for us. but yes, one of our trustees often says, the per capita charitable giving in northwest Kansas could be among some of the largest in the country.
Yeah. Um, because of the work that Hansen's doing. And, and also because we're helping to build wealth through local community foundation. So mm-hmm. We have a, which is part of the work that I'm most involved with for the Hanson Foundation. We have a countywide community foundation. Every one of our counties, some of them pre-existed, um.
The work. Some of them, I actually helped start when I was in Salina Oh. Fun. Through their affiliate program. So now I'm just helping 'em through a different organization. But we have a matching program for them. Uh, almost every one of them has more than a million dollars in assets since we've started that work with them.[00:34:00]
So capturing the local wealth for the local people to use forever and ever is, been really exciting work for me. Yeah,
Gus Applequist: that's really exciting. 'cause it, it also obviously gives some agency over. The things that are funded in their area. Absolutely. And we, we had a guest on not too long ago, uh, Rex Buchanan, former head of the Kansas Geological Survey.
Mm-hmm. And, and you know, I, I pick up valuable lessons from every interview we do. Sure. And that, one of the ones was, we were talking about, you know, the status of, of water in Western Kansas. Mm-hmm. And, um. You know, he, he kind of cautioned me that like, like ultimately Western Kansas needs to probably be the one making decisions about how to deal with this.
And so I love that your model is kind of, um, both like providing funding but also providing some agencies, so mm-hmm. Absolutely. Folks, these communities can have some control. With that thought in mind, and I guess I'm gonna show my hypocritical side a little bit here. two faceted question facet.
One is, what is happening in [00:35:00] northwestern Kansas today that the rest of the state can learn from? And facet two is what, what all in northwest Kansas do you need help with that? The rest of the state could help.
Leveraging Funding and Regional Collaboration
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Betsy Wearing: I think leveraging funding and promoting communities not only to work together, but also some regional regionalization. Uh, and I'll give you an example. I don't think this is unusual to northwest Kansas, but within a county.
In a rural area, often there's like one or two kind of population centers and often they don't wanna play with each other.
Sydney Collins: Mm.
Betsy Wearing: Yeah. It, it, it becomes, it's very territorial and we have worked really hard to break down those barriers. For example, we're like, Nope, we're not gonna give you two community foundations that we work with.
You can have as many as you want, but we're only gonna fund one that works countywide. Uh, so we've tried to help break some of those barriers down, and I think that is actually happening and has [00:36:00] happened over the last several years. And other counties could learn from that or other areas of the state.
Plus just as a region, we do some things regionally. So I think we're helping to kind of share the message that don't live in silos. Mm-hmm. And we really need to work together if we wanna be successful. So I think that's the lesson. Maybe we can share with some people. I think that what we need help with,
I think just learning, I'm gonna show my bias a little bit.
Challenges and Opportunities in Nonprofit Boards
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Betsy Wearing: I think one of the critical needs we have, not just in Northwest Kansas, but a lot of places, is good strong nonprofit boards. Mm. And having them really understand their role. it's a little bit like local politics in that it's not, it's not a position you can go into with an agenda.
You really have to wear the hat of the organization when you're at the table. You need to support the staff. don't just walk into a meeting and walk out an hour later and not think [00:37:00] about the organization again. So I think we have a lot of work to do still in educating. Because we're growing those nonprofits.
That work's becoming more important, the role of the board. We have great people out there. They just haven't really had to operate in that, in that way before. So, uh, I think that's been a big challenge for us and whether we need help from other people to get that done or it's something that we've certainly been paying attention to and working on trying to support those boards, educate them, help them.
Sort of see what, what an important role they can play in, uh, the growth of their communities and their counties. and yes, the third one was the first one. What was that? No, that was, I think, I think that covered you. You did great. Well done.
Gus Applequist: I specialize in questions. I don't know how to answer.
Sydney Collins: Do you, um, on the issue of, uh, boards and finding quality people that understand what their role is, do you think that has anything to do with kind of [00:38:00] the volunteer mindset?
Is how a lot of organizations and nonprofits are struggling just to get volunteers, not just board members, but volunteers to help them with whatever projects. kind of things that I've experienced is people don't understand that you volunteer to help somebody, you're not gonna get anything out of it.
Have you seen that trend in the nonprofit space or is that maybe just a thing that I am just
projecting?
Betsy Wearing: I think that is less of an issue in rural communities. Honestly, there's a smaller population that can't really afford to be, to have that mindset. Very much. Um, I mean, a great example sometimes out of tragedy you see?
Sydney Collins: Yeah.
Betsy Wearing: Better things. Uh, great example would be. You know, Grinnell, Kansas had a tornado go through. Yeah. And it was very damaging. And you know that within 24 hours, people from multiple counties were all there. They were doing the [00:39:00] cleanup, et cetera. Years ago, a couple of years ago, we had the terrible wildfires that went through like the Russell area or whatever.
Within 24 hours, people were arriving with truckloads of hay for the. You know, for the cattle and providing support. So, and I, I think that happens in cities as well, but more, I mean, in comm, smaller communities, you can't just rely on the person next door. Mm-hmm. You gotta rely on the, rely on the person next door and next door and next door.
Mm-hmm. Because we don't have as many people out there. But there, they're fiercely independent, but they're also fiercely protective of their area and their neighbors. And, um, I. So I, I don't think we have a hard time getting people to volunteer. Um, that's kind of a way of life. We laugh. I laugh because if you are interviewing someone for a magazine story or just talking to someone in a rural, most of our rural communities, I would say they are probably doing three jobs.
[00:40:00] Pretty regularly. Yeah. They are, um, a farmer, but they're also a rural firefighter. Mm-hmm. But they're also, you know, helping, you know, run the grocery store or they're on the school board or they're, I mean, so they
Gus Applequist: may not be getting paid for more. Yeah. They don't get paid for a lot of 'em. Right.
Betsy Wearing: But they're, I mean, nobody just does one thing.
Sydney Collins: Mm-hmm.
Betsy Wearing: Um, and part of that's 'cause there's not a lot of people and part of it's 'cause that's just the rural mindset. Mm-hmm. If I want it. If I want it to happen, I'm gonna have to make it happen. Now, do we have cave people in rural Kansas? We do. You know, the citizens against virtually everything, you know?
Yeah. I don't want anything to change. I don't want new growth in my community. I don't want, you know, I'm not worried about the future. but I'd say by and large, not as much. And we, we found that during COVID, we had more people coming home. Because they realized we can work virtually. We don't have as much of an issue with dense population, and maybe [00:41:00] it's okay to come back here for a while.
So we actually saw some population growth during that crazy time
Legacy and Strategic Work of the Hansen Foundation
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Gus Applequist: you know, it strikes me that, uh. Obviously Dane Hansen is the reason why this money is there and why you all work there and make it all happen. Um, I have a feeling though that if.
Dane was here in the room with us and, and he could talk about what it's become. He would say that it's, it's, it's no longer about just his legacy. It's now about kind of our legacy in this region. And, and your legacy is as stewards of, of his memory and of these funds, obviously. So in the vein of having some control over the legacy moving forward, what, what do you want it to be?
Both, you know, for the foundation itself, but also, you know, the uncomfortable question, your legacy, you know, what, what impact do you hope your effort has?
Betsy Wearing: First of all, I would say we talk about Mr. Hansen a lot in the [00:42:00] boardroom.
Gus Applequist: Mm-hmm.
Betsy Wearing: What would Mr. Hansen want? What would he think about this? And of course, we don't know because 60 years ago we lost him. But, um, but we have, we have good information about the kind of man that he was in the work that he did.
So we still think about that and we think about, wanting to make grants that. He would be proud of grants that further people, but also push people. So, um, I, I belong to another organization whose motto is, we wanna give people a hand up, not a handout. And I think about that when I think about Mr.
Hansen. 'cause I feel like that's very much how he operated. He wasn't all about just let's just give you what you need. It was about let me help you figure out what you need and make that happen. And how can you become more self-sustaining? And I think the initiative work that we do. Is really designed for that.
And, uh, and in a lot of ways also, the responsive grant making that we do that will probably always be part of the DNA of the [00:43:00] foundation. I mean, when I started there, and this is kind of getting into a little bit of maybe what my legacy would be for them, when I started at the foundation, you could submit a grant request on a piece of notebook paper or the back of a napkin.
Hm. So today we have online grants and our, that has enabled the reach to be so much larger in the area, which, if you remember when I talked about, when I was in Salina Foundation, that was kind of what they came to us for initially because we had a good regional organization. They were like, how do we, how do we expand the reach of the Hansen Foundation into our full coverage area?
And I feel like we've accomplished that. Also, I, I think they hired me to help 'em with the strategic work. So the Early Childhood Reading Initiative and the Learns initiative and all. I feel like I had a hand in all of those. which to me gives me a lot of pride because, One of the cool things about working for the Dane Hansen Foundation that I have found after working for [00:44:00] a, a nonprofit, the Salina Foundation, and working in the healthcare industry very different, is that you might have an idea, but it could take quite a while for you to just get it.
Done. We can just pivot so quickly with a board of seven that can make that have a hundred percent of the dis decision making capacity. So if we bring an idea to a board meeting, we can be operating that idea within 12 months easily. And that just doesn't happen very often. And to someone like me, that probably patience might not be my very greatest virtue.
It's so much fun to work for an organization like that. So to be able to say. If they're ready to do strategic work, they hired me. I've been able to bring some ideas. Some we, we went forward with some we didn't, but for the most part, I, I feel like when I leave the Hansen Foundation, it'll be, just helping them really make that transition from responsive.
Only to responsive and strategic [00:45:00] work. And, and that's gonna be exciting for me to, to watch them continue that someday when I'm not there.
Gus Applequist: Hmm. Yeah. That's responsive and strategic. That's, that's a great way to put it. Yeah.
Betsy Wearing: For a hundred percent responsive grant makers always, you can write a grant to the Hansen Foundation.
They may or may not fund it, but there's an opportunity there, uh, for them to review your grant. Decide if they wanna fund it. You know, it might be something really small in a small community, it might be something really large that's multi-county. Um, and they look and read all of them.
And that's another thing about being a working board. you know, we make grants every single month, even December. And, uh, we might review 17 applications and we might review 57 applications, my gosh, in a month. Uh, so, um. Sometimes it's
Sydney Collins: very
Betsy Wearing: specific. Sometimes it's, well, actually that's how many we have this month.
So that's why that came to mind because I'm like, I [00:46:00] don't remember if we've ever had that many before, but maybe we have. Um, and you know, they're attentive to all of those and they pay attention to that. And, um, as somebody that's worked in grant making philanthropy for many years now, I. Admire that every grant gets considered.
Uh, it may not take very long to say we don't wanna fund it, and it may or it may not take very long to say, this is a no brainer. We do wanna fund it. But they all get read and they all have their moment of discussion in the boardroom. And I think that's really important as a grant maker. really important.
So I, I appreciate our board and the work that they do to pay attention to that. And I think that's. Mr. Hansen was a thinker, and he would look at every opportunity and make a decision. So I think that's part of his legacy too. You know, we need to look at the, we're not getting 'em on the back of a napkin anymore, but we might still get a grant request for $150.
Not as often because [00:47:00] we've built the local community foundations who can do a lot of that smaller grant work. But, every once in a while we still do. And we'll look at that grant just as much as we'll look at a grant that we might get for $800,000.
Gus Applequist: there's so many things, uh, that I know we didn't touch on and, I would encourage our audience to go check out your website. if you're ever by Logan, stop by. I know there's a museum there that could, it is
Betsy Wearing: fabulous. Yeah, it's fabulous. Yeah. So,
Gus Applequist: so there's a lot more to discover. We've only teased it here.
But, but thank you for taking time to, to come on the podcast today and, and tell us about Dane Hansen and, and your own journey.
Betsy Wearing: Thanks for having me. I really appreciate it.
[00:48:00]
Sydney Collins: Hope you enjoyed that episode with Betsy. I wish I could have like a favorite takeaway, but we've talked about like so much in the nonprofit kind of world. Mm-hmm. Um, I think the thing that I didn't realize is how much that foundation touches mm-hmm. And how many things, not only they help fund, but they help start.
Gus Applequist: When you consider, I don't know. I think in the materials she gave us that said how many millions of dollars they've given since their inception. Mm-hmm. Um, but when you think about what Northwest Kansas would be like today without that huge mm-hmm. Economic impact that they have, or not just economic, but just the, you know, millions of dollars they've pour, poured into that region.
Mm-hmm. Our region, um, is incredible. I think it's something that, uh, people in our, or in from, from Lina to the northwest [00:49:00] mm-hmm. They know they've heard about it maybe. Um, but they don't really know. Yeah. Yeah. But the rest of the state maybe doesn't know. And so it's, it's neat.
Sydney Collins: Okay.
Exploring Rock City and Local Attractions
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Sydney Collins: You ready? Uh, we are doing a wear in the rectangle today, provided by Tanner. So. Tanner, um, recently got his drone license and so he's been a little drone maniac and doing some really cool things
Gus Applequist: we might explain just in case this is somebody's first episode. Oh
Sydney Collins: yeah. So Tanner is our photojournalist.
Um, he goes through all the corners of the states, um, of the state and finds really cool stories, um, whether that's people, places, things. Um, and these stories can be found on our website. Um, ask a kansan.com, click on Curious Kansan, and you can find all of those. And so, and, and where
Gus Applequist: in the rectangle is our, our segment where one of us has to guess where something is in the rectangle.
Sydney Collins: Exactly. So, um, today I want you to tell me where these rocks are at. [00:50:00]
Gus Applequist: Okay. I feel like I, I can probably get this, 'cause I think I've been there. I'm, I'm pretty sure this is Rock City. Yep. Rock City, I think that's near Minneapolis. So then the question is, which county is it in? Um, okay. I'm, I'm about 90% sure.
This is Ottawa County.
Sydney Collins: You are correct. I am more, uh, impressed that you got it so quickly. 'cause I, when I looked at this, I was like. It reminds me of like the top down view in frozen when you see all the trolls in the boulders. That's what that picture reminded me of.
Gus Applequist: Oh, that's funny. Yep.
Sydney Collins: Because I'm like, oh, it's all the little trolls.
Um, but no, yes it is in Ottawa. And um, one of the fun things if you go, you can click to the next slide is that this is not, a like public site. It's private. And, um, it's [00:51:00] registered as a national landmark. It's privately owned park. Um, so $5, that's what keeps this, um, going. So you go there, um, it's $5 to explore and you can see all the fun rock formations, and just kind of just have, there's benches everywhere so you can sit, you can have a little picnic.
Just kind of have a fun little family. Yeah. Kind of moment. Like if you're going, you know, north Kansas and you just drive by and you have lunch somewhere, it's a really cool spot. Um, it's on my list to take the kids. 'cause I can imagine this is probably Oh yeah. I don't know if they permit climbing on the rocks.
Oh yeah. But um, but I can imagine the rock to rock jumping is liability's
Gus Applequist: on you, so. Oh yeah, a hundred
Sydney Collins: percent. like, it's like kids Zone Central, but it's also just really cool 'cause where else are you gonna find just these random round rock formations.
Gus Applequist: They're kind of, they're very large. They're
Sydney Collins: very large.
Gus Applequist: You can kind of, I don't know if, if the audience is able to [00:52:00] see this picture. Yeah. There's a, there's a bench for some, uh, reference point. Mm-hmm. But yeah, they're, you can't, you can't see all sides of 'em at once. You, they're, you have to kind of explore. I've been there twice, once a few years ago and once, uh, my, I think when I was a kindergartner, we had my birthday party there and uh, it was the best birthday ever.
'cause we just ran around on these rocks for two hours and my mom just sat there and had a good time.
Sydney Collins: That's brilliant.
Gus Applequist: Yeah. It's a great place, man. Yep.
Sydney Collins: This is not even remotely related to anything we're talking about, but my daughter wanted to have her, uh, birthday at McDonald's.
She went at a princess party at McDonald's. She wanted me to hire a princess. Tell that princess to go to McDonald's for this kid's birthday party. We did not do that, but. Well, I'll take my McDonalds, but you could've, you could have, I could have.
Gus Applequist: Anyway. What? So, so if you do make a day out of going to Rock City try to make it, Minneapolis is not far away, right? Minneapolis? Yeah. Yeah. And uh, there's a great little place there called the Farm in the Odd Fellows. [00:53:00] It's a, it's like a brewery. and they have like. Snack trays and things, and it's just a wonderful place, one of my favorite places to go. So yeah, if you go to Rock City, uh, plan on stopping by Minneapolis.
Yeah.
Sydney Collins: There's also, um, I have to remember the name. there's a lot of really cute, like, local shopping in Minneapolis. It's, it's like the leopard boutique or the leopard spotted boutique or something along those lines.
Gus Applequist: Yeah.
Sydney Collins: but there's also, I think, a. Uh, just check out Minneapolis. Yeah. I can't remember everything that's there because I haven't been there in a hot minute, but there are a lot of really cool locally owned shops and restaurants.
Gus Applequist: My, uh, I, I play in a band and we played, uh, over the summer at their, their county fair there. Yeah. And, uh, it's, there's few of these county fairs left that have all of the original rides. Mm-hmm. That, you know, they're not brought in by an outside company. They're, they're local. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Real warm community vibes.
Mm-hmm. So, another thing to check out. Okay. Thank you for tuning into another episode of Ask [00:54:00] A Kansan, if you would be so kind as to, uh, leave a review if you liked today's episode, um, or like, comment, subscribe, all the different things on all the different platforms.
We would really appreciate it. But the number one way you can help us is by telling at least one other person about what it is we're trying to do here. Yep.
Sydney Collins: And please join us next time. Kon, have a good day. Bye.