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History
The Beginning
The year prior to New Harvest Foundation's inception, 1983, was a time of great strides in the GLBT community, yet there were also set backs. President Ronald Reagan was in the White House and Governor Tony Earl was in the East Wing. Wisconsin passed the Gay Rights law, the first of its kind in the nation, but Wisconsin also recorded its first AIDS case. Larger communities in Wisconsin had recently started gay and lesbian foundations; However, the South Central area did not have a foundation; the next step was naturally to create one. However, resources from the community to fund needed services were paltry. One of the main sources of income for community organizations was volunteers doing the coat check at the local gay bar. Party loving friends Dick Wagner and Dan Curd, along with other friends started to host theme events to help. An "Alice B. Toklas Birthday Party" for the United, "A Night on Key West" for the Gay Center, and other events helped raise some cash.
The Planning
New Harvest took root when a group of young professionals met in the house of 739 Jennifer Street to discuss the creation of the foundation. Here the founders formed the structure, mission, and principles of New Harvest. A self-renewing board, which would have gender parity, would head the foundation. This board would work to pool funds from the potential donor community and award grants to organizations supporting the enrichment of GLBT communities in South Central Wisconsin. The founders recruited, among others, Dane District Attorney James Doyle, Jr., who had supported the Dane County nondiscrimination ordinance and agreed to lend support to the foundation.
The Name
One of the big problems was what to call the Foundation. Most of the others around the country had moved towards the slightly ambiguous approach by not explicitly including gay or lesbian in the name. Milwaukee's foundation was known as Cream City based on a brick color. This problem was discussed for many months. Some suggested an attribute or symbol of the broader community like Dome might be a name but this provoked no sympathetic responses. Themes about cows were likewise rejected. Finally at one meeting Karla Dobinski suggested New Harvest. It drew on the vaguely agricultural linkages and Midwestern nature of Dane County. It had an implication that this was new work of bringing in bounty that had been cultivated but not yet reaped for the community. It also spoke to the hope we had for younger generations not having to go through the grief some of us had experienced growing up in the shadows. Some quickly thought of named categories of giving like harvesters, gleaners, etc. And many bad jokes were made about harvesting fruits. An early symbol used for the Foundation was a cornucopia patterned on the state coat of arms. One curious later follow up to the name was when we applied to the IRS for tax exemption. Under the Reagan era government we were cautioned not to mislead people into thinking we were an agricultural organization. This was of course well before Will Fellows and his book Farm Boys with his standing joke about how one pronounced John Deere.
The Launch
How to announce the new effort was the next problem. Most mainline fundraising efforts set a goal and then quietly raise a substantial sum to have for a launch announcement. At this time many gay/lesbian community organizations had annual budgets of $3,000 or less. A goal of $10,000 at first seemed wildly optimistic. But eventually by planning a three-year giving option the goal was set at $25,000 for the kickoff. Organizers and future board members dug deep and persuaded some friends to help so over $10,000, then an unheard of sum, would already be committed by the time the effort went public. Though there remained many doubters that professional people would contribute their skills, time, and funds to the effort rather than just party at the bars, an initial Board was recruited. Next, Mayor Joe Sensbrenner was asked and agreed to sponsor the kickoff event. The venue of the Marquee Room at the Civic Center was chosen as the site. The invites went out. And people came. And the Foundation was launched with a great success and a toast to our future.
Dick Wagner - February 2, 2004
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