Community Foundation Elects New Board Members

Amy Graham, of Carthage, Chelsea Fellinger, of Canton, Amy Lehenbauer, of Palmyra, and Kamryn Schrepfer, of Quincy, join the Community Foundation as board members. 

Graham is the director of the Carthage Community Development Corporation. “I have chosen to serve on the Community Foundation board of directors to represent Hancock County and strengthen the presence of the Foundation in the entire service area of West Central Illinois & Northeast Missouri,” said Graham. “I have witnessed first-hand the exceptional work that the Foundation has achieved, and I am honored to be a serving on the board.” 

Fellinger is an attorney with DeCoster Law in Monticello and is the Lewis County Assistant Prosecutor. "I am honored with the opportunity to serve an organization that gives back to so many of our local communities,” said Fellinger. “I look forward to helping the Foundation continue to invest in our region." 

Lehenbauer is the office & cattle operations manager at her family farm, Lehenbauer Farms, in Palmyra. “As a member of the Community Foundation board of directors, I’m excited to help the community understand and use the power of endowment to engage our communities, create opportunity and overcome the challenges we face in rural Northeast Missouri and West Central Illinois,” said Lehenbauer. “The Community Foundation is a great resource to help individuals, families, businesses and organizations meet their charitable goals and positively impact our area forever.” 

Schrepfer is a partner at Gray Hunter Stenn LLP and will serve as the Community Foundation’s treasurer. “I’m honored to be able to represent the Foundation and be a part of building charitable funds that will benefit my community now and in the future,” said Schrepfer.

Also at the Community Foundation’s annual meeting, Corey Moon, of Edina, was elected secretary. Moon is the Knox County Prosecuting Attorney. He has served on the board of directors since 2019. Lydia Ahrens, of Hannibal, was re-elected chair. Ahrens has served on the board of directors since 2013 and was elected chair in 2020. She is a community volunteer with experience in marketing and health care. Lance Grady, of Mt. Sterling, was re-elected vice chair. Grady has served on the board of directors since 2015 and was elected as vice-chair in 2020. He is the owner of L. Grady Realty in Mt. Sterling.  

The Board of Directors also includes:

• Pat Benson of Hannibal, founder of Benson Financial Group
• Michael Costigan of Quincy, Blessing Health System 
• Bill Durall of Pittsfield, retired Air Force 
• David Fox of Carthage, senior vice president at Marine Bank & Trust
• James Hansen of Quincy, partner at Schmiedeskamp Robertson Neu & Mitchell LLP
• Dave Hetzler of Quincy, Interim Dean of Career and Technical Education at John Wood Community College
• Gordon Ipson of Hannibal, retired economic development director at Northeast Missouri Electric Power Coop
• Brian Nation of Barry, vice president at Central State Bank
• Debbie Niederhauser of Quincy, retired educator 
• Lyle Paben of Bowen, bank president of Bank of Advance
• Kristin Spear, DVM of Quincy, owner of Paws at Home

The Board of Directors also recognized and thanked three retiring board members for their service. Laura McReynolds retires after serving since 2015, including two years as secretary in 2019 and 2020. Erin Wharton of Quincy retired after serving as treasurer since 2015. Mandar Dighe of Quincy retires after serving on the board since 2018. 

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The Community Foundation Serving West Central Illinois & Northeast Missouri builds permanent charitable funds to assist area nonprofits and communities. 

Its mission, “connecting people who care with causes that matter,” is achieved by gathering funds, growing them through investments, then granting to nonprofit organizations, causes or communities that mean the most to its donors.   

Since 1997, the Community Foundation has made more than $11 million in grants. It serves 12-counties: Adams, Brown, Hancock and Pike in Illinois and Clark, Lewis, Marion, Ralls, Pike, Knox, Shelby and Monroe in Missouri.  

The Community Foundation has IRS 501(c)(3) status, and contributions made to the Community Foundation generally qualify for the maximum allowable deductions for income and estate tax purposes.  

For more information, call 217-222-1237, go to mycommunityfoundation.org, or www.facebook.com/mycommunityfoundation.

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