Leigh Mathison
As a teenager, Leigh Mathison spent her summers at a YMCA camp along the Gunflint Trail. It was during this time that she grew to love the area and harbored the idea that someday this might be a “nice place to live.”
While this sentiment isn’t uncommon among visitors to Cook County, not everyone acts on it. Leigh and her husband Greg did. By the mid ’70s, they were renting a cabin every summer which led them to buying one. In 2000, she went one step further, moving her successful law practice from the Twin Cities to Grand Marais so she could become a full-time resident.
“Things have been great,” Mathison says of the move. “We love living up here.” As for why, Mathison says Cook County offers a unique sense of community where folks rely on one another.
As an estate planning attorney, Mathison spends much of her time helping folks get their affairs in order. But, she quickly noticed that her new home was very limited on a charitable giving tool that would allow folks to leave part of their estate to a local nonprofit. That is why she became involved with the Cook County Community Fund.
“This is a very charitable minded area. But, many of the nonprofits in the area are so small, they don’t have the ability to manage larger estate gifts,” Mathison explains.
“People who love Cook County now had an opportunity to give to their community longterm,” Mathison says of the Cook County Community Fund’s creation. “They could still make outright gifts to their favorite nonprofit, but they could also make a legacy gift that provides long-lasting support to the causes they believe in.”
Ten years later, the Cook County Community Fund has become a major resource for nonprofits and donors in the area. Each May, nonprofits can apply for grants from a variety of funds that have been established through estate or other gifts. To date, this equals 58 grants totaling $63,897, with 32 nonprofits receiving grants.
In addition, donors have the option of establishing a variety of different funds to best meet their long-term charitable giving goals. Or, they can support the unrestricted fund, which is an endowed fund that is focused on supporting the changing needs of the region in the areas of arts, community development, education, environment, human services and youth.
This individual fund sits at over $200,000 and is just one of many success stories within a community committed to supporting itself.
“We are such a remote community that we really depend on each other,” Mathison says. “People are committed to supporting and maintaining things that make our community. In so many ways, the nonprofits are part of the fabric of our community and we don’t want that to ever disappear.”
If you are interested in learning more about how you can get involved with the Cook County Community Fund, join organizers for the 10th Anniversary Celebration on October 8, 5-7 p.m. at the Johnson Heritage Post. If you are interested in making a donation to the fund, call (218) 726-0232 or visit: www.cookcountycommunityfund.org.
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