Columbia Basin Foundation receives $1M donation

EPHRATA — The Columbia Basin Foundation has received a $1 million endowment from the estate of late Quincy residents Viola Bennett and Glen Bennett, according to CBF Executive Director Corinne Isaak.  

“I wanted to tell the story, because I think it’s such a good one, of a woman who was born and raised in Massachusetts and fell in love with a man in Quincy and moved out here, and then they lived and worked and had their business,” Isaak said. “And then, at the end of their lives, they made a charitable decision to benefit their community and remember the community that supported them as a business.”  

Funding from the donation is earmarked for two purposes, Isaak said. The first is to help children in the Quincy Valley who have had some form of amputation. The second is to support the Quincy Senior Center.  

While the first purpose may seem to be very unique, Isaak said she’d already seen a news story the same day that the contract establishing the endowment was signed that showed its applicability. On Aug. 20, she had read that a toddler in the Quincy area had his foot amputated.  

Distributions from the endowment will go out on an annual basis, she said, making it so programs at the senior center and Quincy Valley Medical Center patients can be assisted for years to come.  

Isaak said she was glad the support would be there for the Quincy Senior Center, because she’s been to the center several times and has seen first-hand the benefits the facility’s programs have for locals.  

According to CBF, the Bennetts were married in 1967 and operated the Exxon Fuel distributorship in Quincy, while living in Trinidad. After retiring, the couple traveld around the U.S., Australia, New Zealand and Europe.  

The Columbia Basin Foundation is a nonprofit organization that helps other nonprofits, businesses and residents manage charitable giving by managing and distributing funds. For more information on CBF, visit www.cbfcommunity.org.