To the Editor,
I was honored to join with others in the observance of the 10th anniversary of the Rushford flood. As I stated in my remarks at the ceremony, the citizens of Rushford who adopted the attitude of “never give up” are the reason that the community not only recovered from the flood, but is now flourishing with a bright future ahead. I am pleased that the Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation (SMIF) was able to play a small but helpful role at the time of the flooding with our business recovery grants. However, I neglected to mention that the Rushford Area Community Foundation, which SMIF helps to manage, played an enormously important role during the recovery and in the years since. In particular, the Rushford Area Community Foundation became the conduit for the local group, RADAR, which raised and dispensed over $1 million to assist the community. RADAR is just another example of local residents coming together and why the citizens of Rushford are to be applauded for rebounding from a disaster and building a brighter future.
Tim Penny
President & CEO,
Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation
Owatonna, MN