Washington County Enterprise-Leader
Wolfpack Foundation Kicks Off To Help Lincoln Students
GROUP IS NONPROFIT, SEPARATE FROM SCHOOL
LINCOLN — A new organization to support Lincoln schools kicks off this year with the goal to get its name out in the public and to start helping others in small and big ways.
Wolfpack Foundation is a nonprofit, 501 (c) (3) organization headed by a board of directors, many with ties to Lincoln. The foundation will be introduced to the public at Meet the Wolves on Aug. 19.
The foundation is an entity separate from the school but at the same time is there to help the school, according to Deon Birkes, a board member who also serves as a liaison to the school. Birkes is the district’s athletic director and high school assistant principal.
Officers are president Henry “Hank” Birkes, vice president Steve Zega, secretary Carrie Provence and treasurer Pat Dickerson. Others on the board are Kelley Bradley and Christopher Strok.
The foundation’s mission statement is “Improving the lives of others through academic, social and athletic opportunities.”
Birkes said the board sees the foundation as something along the lines of the Razorback Foundation. Initially, the group’s focus will be to help Lincoln but a long-range vision is that the foundation will expand its support to northwest Arkansas.
“We want to be very broad, that’s why we have written our mission statement the way it is. Wouldn’t it be great to have the Wolfpack Foundation help a Prairie Grove Tiger or a Farmington Cardinal?” he said.
Birkes said he has been working on the idea of a separate foundation for more than a year and focused on putting the right people in place who would also have a passion about the mission. The board includes those with expertise in business, legal issues and tax laws. He also wanted people on the board with ties to the community, whether they live in Lincoln now or graduated from Lincoln.
“I want them to have a motivation to want it to succeed,” Birkes said.
Right now, the board is planting seeds about the foundation, Birkes said. He has approached businesses about being sponsors or helping with partnerships. It’s not always about money, but in some cases, partnerships may provide connections for other resources, he added.
When the Foundation is off and running, Birkes said an application process will be used for people to apply for assistance from the organization.
The board itself also has big goals. These include an outdoor classroom, money for scholarships, an outdoor workout area for adults, finishing the high school track and other athletic facilities, and helping to purchase a turf surface for the football field.
The priority, Birkes said, will be to find projects that help many students, not just a select group. A turf football field, for example, would be available for band practice and open to football, soccer and physical education classes.
Birkes’ passion for the idea is evident. He describes himself as “pumped.”
The goal is to bring in not thousands of dollars to help others but “hundreds of thousands of dollars,” maybe even millions of dollars to help kids in Northwest Arkansas, he said.
Bradley, an event planner who graduated from Lincoln High, said she believes the Wolfpack Foundation will benefit the community as a whole.
“I believe our future is the children,” Bradley said. “I want to see the Wolfpack Foundation continue to grow where it becomes a leader in the city of Lincoln.”
Bradley said the focus of the organization will be to help students, clubs and organizations meet needs. She said, for example, the band might approach the foundation about assistance in participating in a band contest. Another example would be helping the Adventure Club purchase equipment.
“When we help the youth of Lincoln, it’s our hope these students will go off to college or to the world and then want to come back to help their own community,” Bradley said.
For more information about Wolfpack Foundation, contact Hank Birkes at Henrybirkes@gmail.com.