We need your help to keep the KWE online. This website runs on outdated technology. We need to migrate this website to a modern platform, which also will be easier to navigate and maintain. If you value this resource and want to honor our veterans by keeping their stories online in the future, please donate now. For more information, click here.
 

Korean War Educator Foundation

 

Contents of Page


Back to Page Contents

Incorporation Information

The Korean War Educator Foundation was incorporated in the State of Illinois as a non-profit on October 1, 2000. The articles of incorporation are on file in the Secretary of State's office, Springfield, Illinois, under File Number 6138-369-7. They are also filed in the office of the Douglas County Clerk, Douglas County Courthouse, Tuscola, Illinois, in Book 590, page 257. The Foundation is also registered under the Charitable Trust and The Solicitation for Charity Act in the Charitable Trusts Bureau, Office of the Illinois Attorney General, 3rd Floor, 100 West Randolph Street, Chicago, IL 60601 (ph. 312-814-2595). The registration number assigned to the Foundation is CO#01038346. The Dun & Bradstreet D-U-N-S number of the Korean War Educator Foundation is 138619254.

Back to Page Contents

Stated Purpose

The purpose of the Korean War Educator Foundation is to establish and maintain a website on the World Wide Web that will disseminate information and materials to educate the general public about the Korean War. The Foundation will also disseminate similar materials to members of the general public who do not have access to the World Wide Web. The Foundation will locate Korean War veterans worldwide to obtain full-length interviews about their pre-military, military, and post-military experiences. The interviews shall be preserved and used for educational purposes. The Foundation shall operate exclusively for educational and charitable purposes."

Back to Page Contents

Founder and Founding Directors

The organization's founder and registered agent is Lynnita Jean Brown, 111 E. Houghton Street, Tuscola, Illinois 61953. The foundation trustees are Lynnita Brown and Margaret Stilwell.  Lynnita is the Foundation's chief executive officer. There are no elections.  Lynnita controls the Korean War Educator and makes no apologies for doing so.

Back to Page Contents

Foundation Finances

The financial accounts for the Korean War Educator Foundation were originally located in Villa Grove State Bank, Villa Grove, IL 61956. Those accounts were closed in 2003, and new ones were opened at the 1st Mid-Illinois Bank in Tuscola. There are three savings accounts (Endowment, Web Hosting, and Legal Defense) and a checking account. Bank print-outs of income/expenditure transactions are in the care of Lynnita Brown, Korean War Educator, 111 E. Houghton Street, Tuscola, IL 61953.

Effective September 2003, the Korean War Educator Foundation became a membership-driven organization. Its primary source of income is derived from membership dues, and private and corporate donations. An application for federal tax-exempt status for the foundation was filed with the Internal Revenue Service on August 20, 2001. On January 29, 2002, an advance ruling was made determining that the Korean War Educator Foundation is exempt from federal income tax under section 501 (a) of the Internal Revenue Code as an organization described in section 501 (c) (3). The advance ruling period is now at an end, and Form 8734 (Support Schedule for Advance Ruling Period) was completed and mailed to the IRS in Covington, Kentucky, on March 17, 2005. Donations to The Korean War Educator Foundation can be included as deductions when you file your income tax return. Copies of the IRS determination letter are available upon request through Lynnita Brown, 111 E. Houghton St., Tuscola, IL 61953.

The Foundation's treasury was started with a single $25.00 contribution from Jo Quick of Milwaukee, Wisconsin to Lynnita in March of 2001. The check was given in memory of Jo's husband, Wil Quick. Wil was a Korean War veteran who participated in an interview with Lynnita just weeks prior to his unexpected death. His tape-recorded memoirs with Mrs. Brown are the only ones that he documented in his lifetime. The $25.00 donation from his widow opened the Korean War Educator Foundation's account at Villa Grove State Bank. Korean War H-3-7 Marines gave a $200 contribution in May of 2001, and this was followed by a $1,000 donation from 1-7 Marine reunion participants in Branson, Missouri, the same month. Contributions to the Foundation in memory of Army veteran Al Gavin of Wisconsin also boosted the original funds in the Foundation's treasury. The KWE's checking account was opened at 1st Mid-Illinois Bank, Tuscola, in 2003, following a $5,000 grant from McCormick-Tribune Foundation. Its savings account (Endowment Fund) was opened at 1st Mid-Illinois Bank, Tuscola, in September 2003 with funds from life membership dues.  A second savings account (Web Hosting Fund) was opened in 2005 to hold cash donations to pay for the annual web hosting fee to keep the KWE online. 

The Korean War Educator website is hosted by Double-Hammer Computer Services at a cost of $120.00 a year. The biggest portion of funds expended by the foundation to date is for the production and maintenance of this website. The original webmaster was Marine Corps veteran Julian Blagg of Tuscola (now deceased), who did not charge a salary for his hundreds of hours of work to make this website possible. Instead, the Foundation reimbursed him for computer programs, office products, the printing of brochures, other printing costs, limited labor, and some expenses associated with the scanning of the many graphics which added to the quality of the Korean War Educator website. When Blagg retired from his computer work, the Korean War Educator contracted Simplified Computers in Champaign, Illinois to do the web work for the Korean War Educator at a non-profit rate of $30.00 per hour. Additionally, Ron Janowski, then webmaster, donated time when possible to make updates and maintain the site. Current webmaster, Jim Doppelhammer, likewise donates most of his time and efforts towards the website design and maintenance.  Receipts are on file in Lynnita's office regarding each expenditure.  The KWE is listed on GuideStar, the National Database for Non-profit Organizations, at www.guidestar.org.

Back to Page Contents

Tax Information

To date, the Korean War Educator Foundation has an annual income that falls well below the Internal Revenue Service requirement ($25,000 annual income) to file Tax Form 990EZ.  The KWE's files an annual e-postcard.  CEO Lynnita Brown annually fills out a 990EZ as a means to keep the public informed about the Korean War Educator's finances.  These are not filed with the IRS.  They are, however, submitted to the Illinois State Attorney General's Charitable Trust Bureau to comply with the state's annual filing requirements. They are also posted on the KWE (see below) because the Korean War Educator Foundation has no problem with allowing public scrutiny of its income and expenses.  Further inquiries may be directed to: Lynnita Jean Brown, 111 E. Houghton St., Tuscola, IL 61953; ph. 217-253-4620.

Back to Page Contents

Other Foundation Expenses

Although there are no salaries involved with the maintaining of this website, there are expenses and needs that must be met on a regular basis. They include the following:

  • Lynnita's monthly Mediacom bill for internet & telephone connection
  • Ink cartridges for Lynnita's printer (an HP Envy 4512)
  • Postage
  • Annual web hosting fee
  • Miscellaneous minor expenses
  • Occasionally part of electricity bill (for computer)

Back to Page Contents

Fiscal Responsibility

Have you been disappointed with a "non-profit" organization whose governing body or some corrupt official spent funds unwisely or illegally? A unique policy of the Korean War Educator Foundation is to post all of its income and expenditures for public viewing on this website. Direct all financial inquiries to Lynnita Brown.  Your queries will be answered with honesty.

Back to Page Contents

Disclaimer - Content

The content of the Korean War Educator is mainly generated through other media sources, as well as through the memoirs of Korean War veterans.  The KWE strives for accuracy in the information that it posts in good faith, but claims no responsibility for inaccurate content.  Most memoirs on the Korean War Educator arrive in forms other than completed memoirs.  The vast majority of the memoirs on the Korean War Educator were compiled from notes and segments sent to the KWE in unfinished form by Korean War veterans and then reformatted as a readable manuscript by Lynnita Brown.  Neither Lynnita Brown nor the Korean War Educator can assure the accuracy of the content of memoirs since they are created from the words and memories of others.  The KWE edits grammar, spelling, flow of words, arrangement, etc., but rarely changes the content unless its accuracy is contested.  The Korean War Educator is simply the tool used to make the memoirs readable and professional, and then the means to make them publicly available for educational purposes only on the Korean War Educator.  It should be distinctly understood that once a veteran sends his or her content to the Korean War Educator for the purpose of posting it on the website and then approves the final draft, permission to use it cannot be reversed once the memoir is linked for public viewing.  Errors may be corrected and content may be added, but the memoir itself shall not be removed without the consent of the Korean War Educator.  The Korean War Educator's editing services are free ONLY to veterans who wish to place their memoir on the Korean War Educator for non-profit public viewing.

The KWE is a federally tax exempt 501c3 that operates for charitable purposes only.  For-profit use of the Korean War Educator's website, with the exception of the General Store, is strictly prohibited without consent of the Korean War Educator Foundation.

 



Your donation helps to
keep this web site FREE.



| Contact | What's New | About Us | Korean War Topics | Support | Links | Memoirs | Buddy Search |

© 2002-2016 Korean War Educator. All rights reserved. Unauthorized use of material is prohibited.

Hit Counter
 
.