We are the Hill Country Community Foundation, a Tax Exempt, 501 (C) (3), Non-Profit Charitable Community Foundation, in Burnet County, Texas. We were born July 21, 1982 in Burnet, fathered by the Rotary Club of Burnet Texas. Beverly Sheffield, the Executive Director of the Austin Community Foundation talked to the Rotary Club of Burnet about the ACF and encouraged the Rotary Club to organize a "Fu
nd" to serve Burnet County in cooperation with the ACF. Hoover's 1981-1982 year as president, he adopted as his project, the organization of a "Fund". The name Hill Country Community Fund was chosen by a secret ballot of the Rotary Club. Hoover appointed a committee of Billy J. Pratt and Alvin Nored to meet with Beverly Sheffield. The committee subsequently met with Dick Donoghue about legal aspects of starting the "Fund" and, based on the by-laws of the ACF, drafted and ultimately adopted by-laws of the HCC Fund. The original officers and directors committed to do business as the HCC Fund under the auspices of the ACF, but later, on July 21, 1982, were granted a charter by the State of Texas for the Hill Country Community Foundation and became a separate foundation. The foundation received its first gift in 1982 when the First State Bank of Burnet gave a tract of land to the Fund. The first grants were made to graduating seniors in the spring of 1983 and four seniors, Terri Lynn Ashabranner, Patrick Dean Shell, Rex Schnelle, and Kim Ramirez received small scholarships. The number of scholarships has increased every year since and in the spring of 2010, 168 scholarships were given with an average of $1,631.51 per scholarship. Scholarships ranged from $700.00 minimum to $4,154.00 maximum. The total of all scholarships given by the HCCF was $274,095.00. 100% of all applicants that applied for a scholarship received one based on the applicants SAT/ACT score and class rank. In the past the First State Bank of Burnet through Leon Stone, former Chairman of the Board, deceased, Cary Johnson, President, and its other directors have generously provided accounting, financial and clerical help to the foundation. In 2008, the HCCF built a 5,000 square foot building in Burnet for the use of civic organizations and especially for the use of the Rotary Club of Burnet.
