State Helps Keep Kitselman Funding Coming

The Kitselman name has a high profile in Muncie

The Community Foundation of Muncie and Delaware County Inc. will continue to receive funding from the trust of a well-known family of philanthropists. Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller’s office was part of a team representing Indiana beneficiaries in recent litigation that raised concerns that part of the Harry and Janet Kitselman Foundation funding could be redirected to Minnesota.

The office says However, Minneapolis trustees began seeking a legal alteration to the Kitselman Foundation agreement in 2014. Zoeller’s office says it worked with Muncie-based DeFur Voran LLP attorney Jon Moll, working on a pro bono basis and Minnesota attorney Jim Hovland to "resist these efforts and to protect the interests of the Muncie charitable beneficiaries."

Zoeller says "it is the responsibility of my office to ensure the interests of Hoosiers are protected. This settlement ensures that the Kitselman’s trust, which has supported charities and community improvement in the Muncie-area for many years, will now continue to do so into the future, as intended by the trustees."

The Community Foundation of Muncie and Delaware County recently received $1.5 million, and as part of the new agreement, Kitselman Foundation corporate trustee Wells Fargo Bank will send 40 percent of the annual contributions to the organization in Muncie.

Between 2001 to 2014, the Kitselman Foundation donated nearly $1 million to efforts in Muncie and Delaware County. The couple used to live in Muncie before moving to Minneapolis in the 1960s. A trust was initially set up by Harry in the mid-1980s.

You can connect to more about the settlement and history of the trust by clicking here.