21st Century Endowed Fund
“Mom and Dad never talked about themselves,” says Jackie Dean of her parents Beverly and John Coles. “They did nice things because they wanted to, never for the recognition.”
It should come as no surprise then that years ago Jackie’s parents, Beverly and John Coles, quietly created the 21st Century Fund with the Wyoming Community Foundation. So quietly, in fact, Jackie and her siblings only recently realized it exists.
“We learned of the fund quite by accident,” says Jackie.
Beverly passed away in 2018. Her kids were at the house sorting through things when they found a Wyoming Community Foundation fund statement. None of them were quite sure what it was about.
They soon learned about their parents' generosity and the incredible impact the fund has had on Evanston’s nonprofit community.
Giving Comes Naturally
Beverly and John Coles ranched outside of Evanston. Ranching was tough and the family sometimes struggled to make ends meet. John took correspondence courses from UW to earn his teaching degree and got a job as a teacher with the Wyoming State Hospital.
Beverly worked at the bank and eventually the two worked for the Wasatch National Forest.
“At some point they found natural gas on Mom and Dad’s land and that turned everything around,” says Jackie.
“Giving was a natural thing for them,” says Jackie. “There may be something else out there that they gave to that we don’t know about.”
What we do know is that Beverly and John’s fund inspired huge giving in the Evanston community.
Over 280 gifts ranging from $15 to $521,000 have been added to the fund. The size of the gifts may be different, but the goal behind each gift was the same: to make the Evanston community a better place.
Over the years it’s done just that. As of, 2022, 87 grants have been made totaling more than $354,000 to nonprofits. The fund has truly become a community fund for Uinta County.
We have John and Beverly to thank for having Wyoming’s future in mind.