HARMAN – A nearby library will reap the benefit from a special prize awarded during the 2014 Uncle Sam’s Birthday Party. Elkins resident Ron LaNeve won a $10,000 endowment and selected the Pioneer Memorial Library in Harman as the recipient.
The event sells 250 tickets, and this year four winners each took home $2,800, while LaNeve was selected as winner of a new prize – a $10,000 new endowed fund or $10,000 to an existing fund – given in honor of the event’s 25th anniversary. Proceeds from the July 4 th event help fund scholarships and grants through the Tucker Community Foundation.
“I was very surprised to find I was a winner,” LaNeve said. “We had three engagements that evening, and could not attend the Uncle Sam Birthday Party, but purchased the ticket to help a very worthy cause.”
LaNeve said he learned of the award from his long-time friends Dan and Judy Bucher.
“Dan called me and told me my ticket was selected for the endowment,” LaNeve said. “I usually don’t win anything, and I support different things. I don’t think about winning.”
LaNeve said he and his wife, Nichy, decided to choose an endowment fund that already existed to receive the $10,000 – the Pioneer Memorial Library in Harman. LaNeve said his wife retired from teaching, and she had lots of graduate study in library science.
“We appreciate great libraries and what they bring to the communities they serve,” LaNeve said. “I was raised in a town not much bigger than Harman. We thought giving to the Pioneer Library was a good way to give back to the Harman community and its residents.”
LaNeve said the Buchers were very involved with the Pioneer Memorial Library – another reason the Library was selected.
“I applaud the Tucker Community Foundation for providing a good way to give something back for those lucky enough to win,” LaNeve said. “It is really nice to know the money will go into a fund, which will keep contributing to that library forever. The library is something folks will use for a long time, and I appreciate that the fund will help support that effort.”
LaNeve said his reason to purchase a ticket to the Uncle Sam Birthday Party is to give back to others.
“Winning the endowment and choosing a deserving entity to receive the benefit, just made the evening even better,” LaNeve. “As the saying goes, it is better to give than to receive.”
The Tucker Community Foundation is a tax-exempt public charity that serves eight counties in West Virginia and Garrett County, Md. The Foundation is guided by a volunteer board of directors and a staff including two full time employees, a part-time office manager and a senior trainee. The Foundation manages more than 100 endowed funds with $20 million in charitable assets. These endowed funds are set up to serve specific needs and interests. Tucker Community Foundation administers annual grant and scholarship awards in Barbour, Grant, Mineral, Preston, Pocahontas, Randolph and Tucker counties in W.Va. and Garrett County, Md.
Since the organization was formed in 1989, it has granted more than $5 million. Some of the Foundation’s newest funds include the Tucker County Emergency Medical Services Fund, the Tucker County Economic & Community Development Fund, the WV Highlands Artisans STArt Fund and the Mountaintop Public Library New Building Fund.