The Three Rivers Community College Foundation was organized in 1989 as a non-profit corporation under Missouri law. The Foundation operates under the tax-exempt designation by the federal Internal Revenue Service of a "501 C (3 )" corporation. The Foundation {see by-laws) exists to enhance the quality and extend the services of what now is known sim-ply as "Three Rivers College." {TRC) The Foundation focuses primarily on the college district, which comprises the counties of Butler, Wayne, Carter and Ripley. The original and ongoing intent of the Foundation is to function as an independent, "non-political" entity to benefit TRC. Two of the original members of the eight-person Board of Directors, L. Joe Scott and John R. Stanard, continue to serve as vice-president and president, respectively. Other current members include Jay Githens, Don Bedell and Steve Cookson. The original board included Scott, Stanard, Alvin (Buddy) Bess, James C. Moser, Martha Bidewell, Larry Cotrell, Joe Hillis and Roger Tolliver. Jim Wolpers served as executive director of the Foundation from 1994 to 2004. Judith Wangelin Scott was the executive director from 2004 until her death in July of 2022. Barbara Wilcoxon, the longtime Foundation administrative assistant, continued her parttime duties until Oct. 25, 2023. On that date, Ms. Wilcoxon failed to attend a scheduled meeting with John Stanard and prospective interim director Chelsae Cordia. The purpose of the meeting was for Ms. Wilcoxon, who planned to retire, to help orient and familiarize Ms. Cordia with office procedures. Ms. Wilcoxon has been unresponsive to attempts to contact her since that time. Ms. Cordia served as interim director, with Stanard's assistance, for the calendar year of 2024 at a salary of $6,500 per quarter and will conclude her service on March 31, 2025, having moved her residence to Columbia, Mo. The Foundation has provided an estimated $6.5 million to TRC in scholarships and building projects, including the $3.5 million E.K. Porter Distance Learning Center on the main campus. (See attached clipping from 2008 TRCC 40th anniversary publication produced by Judith Scott, who then was the college vice president for advancement.) In 2008, the TRCC board of trustees employed Dr. Devin Stephenson as president of the college. Stephenson requested that he become a member of the Board of Trustees of the Foundation. It was explained to him that the Foundation operated "at arm's length" from the college itself, to avoid local political pressures, and that his membership would not be appropriate. Stephenson disagreed and took steps to form a second foundation known as the Endowment Trust. He also persuaded the college board of trustees to deauthorize the TRCC Foundation as an authorized college entity. The Endowment Trust was designated as the college development arm and has continued to be promoted as such in all fund-raising efforts to date. Stephenson was dismissed as the college president after several years. While president, he actively attempted, unsuccessfully, through fabricated legal challenges and false allegations to have the Foundation dissolved by either the state of Missouri or the federal Internal Revenue Service. He also ordered the college financial aid office to cease assistance to the Foundation in identifying candidates for its scholarship program. TRCC Foundation board members hold no animosity toward the Endowment Trust, and are on good terms with the college administration. The Foundation continues to provide nearly $20,000 each year in scholarships to college district students. The Foundation, which purchased from the college for $200,000 the four acres on which the Porter Building is situated, holds title to that campus inholding as evidence of its independent status. Foundation offices are located on the first floor of the Porter Building. In addition to the Porter Building and property, the Foundation assets include about $1.4 million in investments with The Goldsmith Oplotnik Group at Morgan Stanley in Springfield, Mo. John Goldsmith, who recently retired, previously represented Morgan Stanley in Poplar Bluff. His partner, Anita Oplotnik, now will manage our account. Additionally, the Foundation has a CD for $213,000-plus bearing 2. 75 % interest at First Midwest Bank, which matures on July 23, 2025. The Foundation's financial affairs are independently audited annually by the St. Louis CPA firm of Schmersahl Treloar, which specializes in not-for-profit clients. The firm also handles the Foundation's ongoing reporting the IRS as a not-for-profit entity.