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President’s Message

Aug, 1

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President's Message

August 2013 President’s Message

I was looking out the window ready for leaves, green grass, lawn mowers, etc. in the last Newsletter. Now I am looking out the window at all the things that need to be done. All of it will have to wait. Greetings to all the MRTA family. Please be cautious and safe with the summer heat.

The past several months have been an exciting time for the Missouri Retired Teachers Foundation (MRTF). It is important that we get information out across the state about Foundation activities. We need to get this information all the way down to the Local Unit level. I was able to attend eight Regional meetings since October 2012. MRTA President Hargens and MRTA Director Kreider spoke about the Foundation in the other Regional meetings. I have encouraged all MRTF Board members to speak about Foundation activities when they have the opportunity.

It is very encouraging to see the interest expressed and the generosity given to the Foundation in these meetings. THANK YOU TO THE ENTIRE MRTA FAMILY. Response to the year end “ASK LETTERS” of 2012 was better than ever. The MAILING LABEL CAMPAIGN last April was likewise very successful. Attention is now being turned toward the SILENT AUCTION to be held at the September Annual Meeting in Jefferson City. A Silent Auction flyer was included in the mailing to MRTA/MRTF Board Members and Local Unit Presidents for the Fall Annual Meeting. The Silent Auction has been a successful fundraising activity at the Fall Annual Meeting. Please review the flyer in the mailing and in this issue of the Newsletter on Page 11. All proceeds from the Silent Auction will go to the MRT Foundation Classroom Grant Program. We encourage members of both Boards (MRTA/MRTF) and all MRTA Local Units to participate. SPECIAL THANKS to Jan Powers and Veronica Hambacker for being Co-Chairs of the Silent Auction this year. Contact either Jan, Veronica, or the MRTAofficeifyouhaveanyquestionsabout the auction. Their contact information is on the flyer.

The Foundation Board was able to give one (1) five hundred dollar ($500) classroom grant to each of the fourteen (14) MRTA Regions in 2012. The Board voted in December of 2012 to set a goal of issuing two (2) classroom grants per region in 2013. We will be able to do that because of YOUR GENEROSITY with Foundation fundraising activities. The Board will meet again this coming September.

I hope to be able to ask the Board to increase it to three (3) classroom grants per MRTA Region. The success of the 2013 Silent Auction will HELP MAKE THIS POSSIBLE.

Please remember that the Missouri Retired Teachers Foundation (MRTF) is a not-for- profit organization incorporated under the State of Missouri and approved by the Internal Revenue Service as a 501(c)(3) public charity. All donations are tax-exempt. On behalf of the MRT Foundation Board, we look forward to seeing everyone at the Annual Fall Meeting, September 9-10, 2013. THREE GRANTS PER REGION WOULD BE A TOTAL OF $21,000.

Walter Cochran — MRTF President

May, 1

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President's Message

May 2013 President’s Message

Funding Cut! They Need Us Now More Than Ever!

I am looking out the window as thoughts come together for this Newsletter article. Green leaves, green grass, flowers, lawn mowers, weed eaters, patios, barbeque, fishing, possible golf, and fresh outside air come to mind. These are a few of the things that make this my most favorite time of the year. I sincerely hope that all is well with retired educators and the entire MRTA family.

Every effort is being made to get information out across the state about the purpose, objectives, and activities of the Missouri Retired Teachers Foundation (MRTF). It is important that we get that information all the way down to the Local Unit level. By the end of June, I will have attended 10 Regional meetings since October of 2012. MRTA President Hargens and MRTA Director Kreider have covered in the other meetings. I have encouraged all MRTF Board members to help keep everyone informed, especially Local Units in their Regions.

As mentioned in previous Newsletters, the Foundation was able to give one Classroom Grant to each of the 14 MRTA regions in 2012. Each grant was $500 for a total of $7,000. The Foundation Board would like to double, even triple the number of grants for 2013. As funding to public schools continues to be cut, classroom teachers and students are finding themselves doing without much needed classroom materials. The Foundation continues to seek donations for major building improvements; and, the MRTF Endowment Fund has been created where the principal will never be spent.

If you are a current MRTA member you have received the MRTF mailing label campaign information by now. An overview of the contents is on page 7 of this newsletter. The mailing contained a personalized notepad, mailing labels, and a personal letter. Please review the material carefully. This is a MAJOR FUNDRAISER for the Foundation. The Foundation was established in 2001 and due to your past generosity MRTF has awarded fifty-six $1,000 scholarships and fifty-three $500 classroom grants to active teachers. Also, remember a building lot was purchased, a new office building was built, and the MORTGAGE BURNED.

Please remember that the Missouri Retired Teachers Foundation (MRTF) is a not-for- profit organization incorporated under the State of Missouri and approved by the Internal Revenue Service as a 501(c) (3) public charity. All donations to the Foundation are tax-exempt.

Your past response to Foundation fundraising efforts has been phenomenal. “THANK YOU” and please consider continuing your support for the Foundation activities. Remember the mailing label envelope that says—THEY NEED YOU NOW MORE THAN EVER!

Jan, 1

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President's Message

January 2013 President’s Message

The New Year is an excellent time to reflect, reassess priorities, and look to the future. What a wonderful year 2012 was for MRTA and MRTF. A BIG THANK YOU goes to MRTA members and the fundraising activities of Local Units across the state. Your financial support came from the mailing label campaign, silent auction, and the year end ASK letters. The BUILDING LOAN was paid for and the MORTGAGE WAS BURNED in record time.

The MRTF Board of Directors met for the annual meeting at the MRTA/MRTF office on December 11, 2012. Officers were elected for 2013. (President—Walt Cochran, Vice-President—Maggie Elder, Secretary—Ruby Vincent, and Treasurer—Jim Kreider) The MRTF Board and the entire MRTA membership would like to express appreciation and thanks to two members leaving the MRTF Board. The two members are Bill Wasson and Garland Hamilton. Both served the Foundation and Association well and will be missed. New members joining the MRTF Board are former MRTA President Jan Powers and Jim Orr. Jan is from Warrensburg and Jim is from Monett.

I cannot overstate the excitement I feel about the MRTF Board of Directors. The enthusiasm, energy, ideas expressed, all suggest a bright future for MRTF. As stated in an earlier Newsletter, the Foundation will now be solely responsible for fundraising. It is time to SHIFT GEARS in determining how the money raised is spent. We are in the process of updating the MRTF Brochure and the MRTF Website. Response to the end of year ASK letters has been very promising. Plans are being made to launch the mailing label campaign in the spring. Discussion is under way for the Silent Auction at the Annual Fall Meeting in September. We want to get information out to the Local Units in the Spring so they will have time to prepare for the Auction. Jan Powers and Veronica Hambacker will co-chair the Silent Auction. The goal will be to make enough from the Silent Auction to provide one round of fourteen (14) classroom grants of five hundred (500) dollars each.

The MRTF Board would like to express a big THANK YOU to the fourteen MRTA Regional Vice Presidents. They did a SUPER JOB of forming committees, screening the grant applications for their region, and making the final selection of each regional winner. The turn around time in the process was excellent. Checks have been cut and presentations made in all fourteen regions. I am very pleased to announce the MRTF Board voted to DOUBLE the number of classroom grants for 2013. This would increase the number of grants from fourteen (14) to twenty eight (28) five hundred dollar ($500) grants, allowing two grants for each region.

The MRT Foundation Board will continue with familiar fundraisers as well as looking at any new and worthwhile fundraisers that might surface. I will be in contact with Regional Vice Presidents to encourage them to come up with a fundraising activity at Regional Meetings in 2013 to help support the Foundation.

Speaking for the MRTF Board, “THANK YOU” MRTA members and Local Units for your past generosity to MRTF fundraising activities. Please continue your support to make tax deductible contributions to one of MRTF’s fund choices in the future: MRTF Classroom Grants Fund, Endowment Fund, and Building Maintenance & Improvement Fund.

The MRTF Board of Directors would like to extend to everyone the very best wishes for a HAPPY AND HEALTHY 2013.

Nov, 1

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President's Message

November 2012 President’s Message

I would like to open this article with a comment or two about the recent past. The comments deal with the recent passing of Missouri Retired Teachers Foundation President Jane Fullerton. What a tremendous loss this will be for MRTA and MRTF. Her knowledge, leadership, and inspiration will be very difficult to replace. The years of service and dedication she gave cannot be over stated. It was a sincere privilege to have known and worked with her the past several years. Jane was aware the MORTGAGE WOULD BE BURNED at the Annual Meeting last September and that she would be recognized as 2012 MRTA Distinguished Retiree of the Year. I am honored and humbled to have been asked by the MRT Foundation Board to accept Jane’s position of leadership with MRTF.

There is tremendous excitement in the air for MRTA and MRTF in the future. It is now time to “SHIFT GEARS”. MRTA President Mark Hargens will be explaining what that means for MRTA in Region meetings across the state in the next year. Let me take a few moments to explain what this means for MRTF. All MRTA/MRTF fundraising activity for the past several years has been for the building fund or paying off the mortgage. The Foundation will now be solely responsible for fundraising.

The Foundation needs to “SHIFT GEARS” in determining how the money is spent. Yes, WE WILL CONTINUE TO HAVE FUNDRAISERS AND ASK FOR MONEY. This will be our job as a Foundation Board.

There will be fourteen (14) $500 Classroom Grants available next year. This totals $7,000 and would be one grant for each MRTA region. It would be great to increase the number of classroom grants in the future. How about adding a continuing education scholarship for classroom teachers in the future? Maybe one for each region. Funds need to be available for major building improvements or maintenance. Such projects could include roof repair, heat and air problems, office expansion, elevator, etc. A fund has been created for this and it will be called the MRTF Building Improvement and Maintenance Fund. “SHIFTING GEARS” simply means a different focus on spending.

The MRT Foundation Board will continue some familiar fundraisers as well as looking at any new and worthwhile fundraisers that might surface. The Address Label Campaign will continue in 2013. The Silent Auction will continue at the Annual Meeting in September. We will maintain the Wall Tile on the Donor Wall of Fame in the office facility. You will be encouraged to raise your support from one level to another on the Wall. The ultimate goal would be to reach the Legacy level at the top. The PSRS Death Benefit and Endowment Fund would be another way to contribute. Bricks can still be purchased for the Patio around the flag pole. The year end “ASK” letters will be coming shortly to encourage businesses, corporations, and individuals to make a tax deductible contribution to MRTF.

The Foundation was organized in 2001 and is a tax-exempt 501 (c)(3) not-for-profit corporation devoted to raising funds to carry out certain charitable, educational, scientific, and literary purposes of MRTA. All contributions are tax deductible. Since its inception, the Foundation has awarded $56,000 in scholarships and thirty-nine (39) $500 classroom grants to help active teachers with classroom projects. Don’t forget the money raised to BUILD THE BUILDING AND PAY OFF THE MORTGAGE.

I want to THANK YOU for your past generosity in all that you have given to MRTA and MRTF. A lot of this money was raised $10 to $50 at a time. MRTF ends the year 2012 with THANKS TO EVERYONE ACROSS THE STATE. Please continue your support to make tax deductible contributions to one of MRTF’s four fund choices: MRTF Building Improvement and Maintenance Fund, Scholarships/Grants, General and Endowment.

I am so excited for the future of MRTA and MRTF. Please accept my most sincere wishes for a happy and healthy 2013.

Walter Cochran — MRTF President

Aug, 1

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President's Message

August 2012 President’s Message

Several times lately, I have seen nationally televised vignettes about a retired educator living in a chicken coop because she could not afford anything better.

As the story goes, Dr. Ethel Percy Andrus, a renounced retired educator, the first woman principal in a high school in the state of California, was searching for a former colleague and found her living in a chicken coop.

(MRTF) is an investment for our future. A gift to MRTF ultimately gives back in the form of services provided for the membership and opportunities for future generations of educators.

As Dr. Andrus stressed the only way to get the most out of our membership is to give something of yourself. The MRTF is prudent with the money it receives from the generosity of its members and encourages all MRTA members and units to make a 2012 contribution to help eliminate the mortgage on our office facility. A generous tax-deductible contribution will insure your legacy for the future. As members we need to communicate a sense of ownership in our building and the organization and the value of new members at all levels–unit, regional, and state.

The Foundation will continue to concentrate its efforts on paying our office facility mortgage, having fundraising activities and to encourage businesses, corporations and individuals to make tax deductible contributions to one of MRTF’s four fund choices, building, scholarship/grant, general and endowment.

Upon finding the address, the principal set out to find her former colleague. The address was in an affluent neighborhood in the suburbs of Los Angeles, California. Reaching the address and knocking on the door, she was told that her friend did not live in this house but instead lived out back. What she found that day – a former colleague living in a chicken coop – would eventually spawn an American Institution, the National Retired Teachers Association with units in all 50 states.

She found the former teacher not enjoying her retirement years as she should have been, but rather living in conditions that caused Dr. Andrus to decide that retired educators needed and deserved a support group.

In 1947 Dr. Andrus was the founder of the National Retired Teachers Association (NRTA) and became its first president. Andrus and her colleagues focused their efforts to advocate on behalf of retired educators’ quality of life and any issues involving education and educators. She believed that the only way to reap the most from life is to give something of yourself. With this in mind she created the motto: To Serve, Not to Be Served.

Like Dr. Andrus, as educators, we each have our own life story. Stories filled with relationships and events that help shape who we are and what we believe to be true about public education and educators. Dr. Andrus and her RTA organizations became champions for seniors and educators.

In the tradition started by our founder, as MRTA members, we embrace the purposes of the Missouri Retired Teachers Association and Public School Personnel, “To Serve, Not to Be Served.” We give credit to Dr. Andrus that MRTA is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, grassroots membership organization that helps retired educators to improve their quality of life. An investment in the Missouri Retired Teachers Foundation (MRTF) is an investment for our future. A gift to MRTF ultimately gives back in the form of services provided for the membership and opportunities for future generations of educators.

As Dr. Andrus stressed the only way to get the most out of our membership is to give something of yourself. The MRTF is prudent with the money it receives from the generosity of its members and encourages all MRTA members and units to make a 2012 contribution to help eliminate the mortgage on our office facility. A generous tax-deductible contribution will insure your legacy for the future. As members we need to communicate a sense of ownership in our building and the organization and the value of new members at all levels–unit, regional, and state.

The Foundation will continue to concentrate its efforts on paying our office facility mortgage, having fundraising activities and to encourage businesses, corporations and individuals to make tax deductible contributions to one of MRTF’s four fund choices, building, scholarship/grant, general and endowment.

Jane Fullerton — MRTF President

Jan, 1

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President's Message

January 2012 President’s Message

MRTF Begins 2012 with Thanks!

Every person has their own way of bringing in the New Year and saying farewell to the old. The most common tradition is the practice of making New Year’s resolutions. Most resolutions are made to motivate, with the most common, to simply make a difference.

The New Year is always an excellent time to reassess our priorities, to provide time to pause and assess our accomplishments and at the same time give us a chance to look ahead to the many opportunities and tasks to be accomplished.

At the closing of 2011 the Missouri Retired Teachers Foundation (MRTF) has many “THANK YOU’s” that must be expressed. There are so many individuals and Units who have made a diff erence. Thankfulness – gratitude – what we choose to remember matters a great deal. Making New Year’s resolutions is probably pointless; we are unlikely to keep them. Instead, the MRTF will spend the New Year giving thanks to all those who made a difference in 2011.

The MRTF Board and the entire membership of MRTA express appreciation and thanks to two members who are leaving the MRTF Board. Marcia Slaughter, Region 7, has served as Scholarship Chair since its beginning. Board member Larry Smith, Region 3, has also asked to leave the MRTF Board. Both have served the Foundation and the Association well and will be greatly missed. New members joining the MRTF Board are former MRTA Presidents Maggie Elder, Region 1, and Walter Cochran from Region 6.

A first for MRTF is the donation of a 1968 collector’s Chevrolet Chevelle by MRTF Board member, Bill Ray. The Foundation plans to turn this gift to cash with proceeds divided between the building fund and the scholarship/grant fund. Our members should be aware that this is a way to support the Foundation with tax deductible gifts. Thank you, Bill and Mary Ray.

A big thank you also goes to the MRTA members for their financial support of our mailing label campaign and a very successful silent auction. Those two fundraising campaigns netted $38,746.

During 2011 the Foundation was able to make extra principal payments totaling $120,500 on the MRTA/MRTF office facility mortgage and at the same time to award 15 MRTA/MRTF classroom grants. The fi nancial report for December 31, 2011 indicated we are nearing the end of paying for our building owing only $123,806.76. MRTF’s priority continues to be to seek contributions and organize fundraising campaigns to eliminate the mortgage.

On December 13, 2011 the MRTF Board of Directors met at the MRTA/MRTF office for their annual meeting. The major portion of the meeting was to discuss fundraising for 2012.

We must continue to rely on the generosity of our donors, you the members, who are committed to MRTA’s future, OUR future, to finish the task of paying for our office facility and classroom. I wish there was something profound or motivating to share that would encourage us to make this the best year ever. There is no reason we should not be able to pay the remaining $123,000 of the mortgage this year. The 2012 membership contributions will further reduce the mortgage bringing the balance down to $93,000.

To accomplish this, every Unit and every member would need to make a tax deductible contribution to the Foundation now. If every member would send a NEW YEAR Contribution of $10, we could pay the mortgage immediately. A generous contribution will insure your legacy for the future and accomplish our goal of retiring the mortgage in 2012.

The Foundation will be working with MRTA to have two major fundraising campaigns in 2012. The Foundation will continue to concentrate its efforts on paying off our office facility mortgage, having fundraising activities and to encourage businesses, corporations and individuals to make tax deductible contributions to one of MRTF’s four fund choices: building, scholarship/ grant, general and endowment.

I am so very grateful for all you have given. Please accept my warmest wishes for a happy and healthy 2012.

Jane Fullerton, President

Missouri Retired Teachers Foundation

Dec, 1

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President's Message

December 2011 President’s Message

As the year draws near, we find ourselves looking to the future of the Missouri Retired Teachers Foundation. This year, the Foundation celebrated its 10th year as a 501 (c)(3) charitable organization. The Foundation has accomplished so much because of your generosity.

Since our inception, the Foundation has awarded fifty-six (56) $1,000 scholarships to students enrolled in teacher education programs and twenty-four (24) $500 classroom grants to help active teachers with classroom projects, with 14 more classroom grants totaling $7,000 to be awarded in December. Our donors have given more than $3,000 to the Joplin Schools through the Foundation to help with the Joplin tornado recovery efforts. We have purchased a building lot and built an office facility in Jefferson City. This facility is home to the Foundation as well as the offices of the Missouri Retired Teachers Association. With your generous donations, the debt on this building is now less than $143,000. Your response to the Foundation’s fundraising efforts has been phenomenal.

The purpose of this message is two-fold:

  • Please consider making a year-end tax deductible donation to the Missouri Retired Teachers Foundation, and
  • While we continue to focus fundraising efforts at paying off the building mortgage as priority, we are also looking to the future of the Foundation and its charitable efforts. Where do you see the future of the Foundation’s fundraising efforts and focus? Please take a few moments to give us your opinion by visiting us at www.mortf.org and email us at mrta@mrta.org.

Thank you for your past generosity and for all you have given to fellow educators. We look forward to your year-end tax deductible donation. Please make your checks payable to the Missouri Retired Teachers Foundation. I wish each and every one of you the very best as we end such a wonderful year and prepare for 2012.

Jane Fullerton, President

Missouri Retired Teachers Foundation

Aug, 1

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President's Message

August 2011 President’s Message

Hat’s Off & Call to Action

As President of the Missouri Retired Teachers Foundation, I wish to extend my sincerest gratitude to each of you who supported the MRTA/MRTF fundraising which made 2010 such a fantastic year. I wish to give my HAT’S OFF to all who participated in our MRTA/MRTF fundraising activities which made it possible for us to pay $136,000 on the building mortgage in 2010. This year is shaping up to be another great year thanks to your commitment to MRTA and your generosity.

MRTF’s priority continues to seek contributions and to organize fundraising campaigns to reduce the mortgage of the new office/classroom facility. Our building is our billboard and has given us status and permanency at the voice of education retirees. Nevertheless MRTA is still assisting educators in the classroom. The Foundation sponsored a fundraising luncheon, featuring Missouri’s First Lady Georgeanne Nixon, for our Classroom Grant Program. The most successful fundraising luncheon ever! Generous MRTA members and corporate contributions enabled us to award seven MRTF Classroom Grants to worthwhile projects across the state. Grant winners are featured on the web at www.mortf.org.

CALL TO ACTION: Our primary fundraising event for 2011 will be our address mailing label campaign. Early in May 19,000 MRTA members received a gift of address mailing labels from MRTA/MRTF. It is our hope that every post office in Missouri will see our labels with the MRTA and MRTF logos as they travel to every state and country of the world. As you use and enjoy these address labels will you send an appreciation contribution for them? Any amount will be appreciated and will add up in a hurry. If all 19,000 members would send MRTF a minimum contribution of $20 we could retire the mortgage on our office facility this year. Any surplus dollars would be added to our MRTF Endowment fund.

It is so exciting to be able to announce that on June 15, 2011 we were able to reduce our debt by another $39,500 from the address mailing labels and membership dollars reducing our mortgage below $196,000 on an asset valued at $940,000.

For our second fundraising activity this year and after being absent for a year, our popular Silent Auction will return. This is planned for the MRTA Annual Meeting being held September 13 and 14, 2011 at the Capitol Plaza Hotel in Jefferson City. We are asking every MRTA unit and every Board member to contribute an item to the auction. Cash gifts will be gladly accepted in lieu of auction items. Within this newsletter is more information on some of the items being offered at the Silent Auction and a chance for everyone to participate through a sealed bid opportunity.

It has become clear that now, more than ever, we must rely on the generosity of you, the members of MRTA, who are committed to MRTA’s future to pay off our MRTA/MRTF office facility and MRTF classroom center. If you have not responded with a tax deductible contribution for your address mailing labels please do so today. There is no deadline. We will make a second building mortgage payment this year and how large of a debt reduction we end up with in 2011 is up to you and your generosity.

As MRTA member donors, this enables each of us to communicate a sense of ownership in our office facility. Please make your tax deductible contribution payable to: Missouri Retired Teachers Foundation.

We are very grateful for all of you. Your legacy of service to children and education will stay alive through the Missouri Retired Teachers Foundation and the work of MRTA.

Jane Fullerton, President

Missouri Retired Teachers Foundation

Jun, 1

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President's Message

June 2011 President’s Message

The Missouri Retired Teachers Foundation (MRTF) is a tax exempt 501(c)(3) charitable corporation devoted to raising funds to carry out certain charitable, educational, scientific, and literary purposes of the Missouri Retired Teachers Association and Public School Personnel (MRTA).

Since being approved by the MRTA Board of Directors, the Internal Revenue Service and the Missouri Department of Revenue, the Foundation has had as its motto, “Honoring the past and giving to the future.”

As a very young Foundation, established in 2001, partnering with the MRTA we embarked on a major building campaign to provide a permanent office building and public classroom for the Foundation and MRTA. Since ribbon cutting and open house, the Foundation has provided meeting space in its Classroom Center and Board Room for educational organizations and associations, not-for-profit organizations, businesses, and the committees of MRTA. During 2010, more than 1,000 persons attended meetings, classes, or training in the MRTF Classroom Center and Board Room.

MRTF’s priority continues to be to seek contributions and organize fundraising campaigns to reduce the mortgage of the new office/classroom. During 2010, as part of MRTA’s 50th birthday celebration, the Foundation had several fundraising campaigns such as the patio brick and wall tile campaign, entryway tile sealed bid campaign, and a very successful Branson raffle which enabled us to add more $136,000 to the $500,000 that we had previously raised, reducing our debt to less than $262,275. Nevertheless, the Foundation continued to have an annual fundraising luncheon for our Scholarship/Grant Program. Because of the most successful scholarship luncheon ever, and generous member and corporate contributions, we were able to award seven MRTF Classroom Grants in 2010 to worthwhile projects across the state.

Since its beginning, the Foundation has been able to give thousands of dollars in classroom grants and scholarships. To date the Foundation has been able to award $56,000 in scholarships to 56 students working toward degrees in the field of Education. During 2010, classroom grants totaling $3,500 were awarded to seven applicants bringing our total of classroom grant awards to $12,000.

The Foundation will continue to concentrate its efforts on paying the office facility mortgage, having fundraising activities and encouraging businesses, corporations, and individuals to make tax deductible contributions to one of the Foundation’s four fund choices: MRTF/MRTA office facility, educator scholarships/classroom grants, MRTF endowment fund and the MRTF general fund.

As President of the Missouri Retired Teachers Foundation, I wish to extend my sincerest gratitude to each and every one of you who have made donations to the Foundation since its beginning in 2001. We look forward to a successful 2011.

Jane Fullerton, President

Missouri Retired Teachers Foundation

Jan, 1

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President's Message

January 2011 President’s Message

An Open Letter to MRTA Members

A few months ago MRTA President Walt Cochran and I sent you a beautiful refrigerator magnet announcing the 50th Birthday of the MRTA. To celebrate MRTA’s Birthday we have set a goal to retire the mortgage on our office facility in 2010. The Birthday Celebration and the Annual Meeting are part of our past, but our commitment to retire the mortgage is greater than ever.

The goal to retire the mortgage is achievable, but it will take every member’s effort to do so. To reach our goal we are asking every unit and every member to contribute $50 for 50 years of MRTA service. I know that each of you shares with me my pride in the new office and many have responded with a birthday contribution. MRTF just reported its greatest fund-raising year ever. Your gifts were received and immediately sent to the Bank to reduce the loan. With gifts, raffles and other fund-raising we were able to pay $137,000 on the mortgage before December 31, 2010.

Every dollar matters, your dollars have already made a monumental difference, by reducing the mortgage more than $137,000. On behalf of the Foundation, Association and Staff, I want to extend thanks to each of you for your continued support. To others, we must continue to ask. I would like to convey our feeling of urgency in retiring the mortgage before the end of the year.

A quote from our original letter: “For every dollar you donate to the MRTF Building Fund you will reduce the total cost of our office facility by $4.29 OR put another way, if you donate $50 for MRTA’s Birthday you will reduce the cost of the office facility by $214.50! This is how interest works. We need your generous tax deductible contribution today!

Our new office facility is a once in a lifetime project, a once in 50 year event. The image and influence of MRTA has increased 1,000 fold in the Capitol City of Jefferson City. This building has told the world that MRTA is here to stay. Your building is your billboard! The message of this new office is that MRTA will be protecting and enhancing our retirement benefits and benefits for future generations of MRTA members.”

It is no secret that the longer we are in debt paying for the building the more interest we will pay. This makes it imperative that we continue asking for assistance. We must continue to seek contribution from those who have made individual contributions, as well as those who have not. If you are a first time contributor; every contribution is acknowledged and is tax deductible for both income and estate taxes. Fifty dollars is such a small amount to pay for MRTA’s 50 years.

If at all possible, I am asking you to accept the challenge to donate a minimum of 10% of your tax savings brought to you by the 2007 MRTA sponsored legislation (HB 444). For the tax year of 2009, 50% of your retirement income was tax exempt from Missouri income taxes. The average tax savings for MRTA tax payers was $1,168 and for 2010 we can expect an additional 15%. With no COLA for 2010 and 2011, I cannot imagine what it would be like if MRTA had not been instrumental in providing us with this tax savings.

With such a small staff and continuous fund-raising we are depriving you and every member of the MRTA expanded services and benefits. We must eliminate this debt so that the MRTA can concentrate on protecting our PSRS, enhancing membership services and promoting the retiree and public education.

The Missouri Retired Teachers Foundation and the Missouri Retired Teachers Association wants to thank all MRTA members for their contribution. No contribution is too small or too large to be appreciated.

Please make checks payable to the: Missouri Retired Teachers Foundation

Jane Fullerton, President

Missouri Retired Teachers Foundation