March 21, 2022 | Stories
Giving is important to Val and Kevin Cowan. As their two sons grew, the couple found ways to give to causes that aligned with their family interests.
“We’re strong supporters of Wichita,” Val notes. “It’s important to us to make sure our community continues to thrive.”
The Cowans have consistently donated to local organizations, primarily to nonprofits funded by Catholic Charities, the Diocese of Wichita and educational institutions. As their annual charitable giving became more significant, the donors reached out to a close friend for charitable giving advice – Wichita Community Foundation’s President and CEO Shelly Prichard.
“By the end of our conversation with Shelly, we knew opening a fund was what we wanted to do,” said Val.
Together, they established the Cowan Family Fund at WF to streamline their support for community, education and faith-based causes. At tax-year-end, they’re not worried about trying to track down receipts from various organizations, because the Foundation provides a consolidated receipt of the gifts given.
“I think there are a lot of people like us who are writing checks to various nonprofits at the end of the year,” Val said. “Our fund is going to simplify our giving going forward.”
Val and Kevin are also using their Family Fund as a learning vehicle to ignite philanthropy in their sons, Kaegan and Shaemus. They look forward to making this a family tradition by involving their sons in allocating gifts to causes that reflect their passions.
“It’ll be a conversation we’ll have with them at the end of each year,” Val says. “It’s named the Cowan Family Fund because they’ll administer it one day and establishes the principle of giving back to the community in their minds.”
