By BEN KLEINE

Staff writer

Central Kansas Community Foundation — of which Hillsboro Community Foundation and Peabody Community Foundation are a part — announced a partnership last week with the Community Foundation of Greater Butler County.

Central Kansas Community Foundation now spans four counties: Marion, McPherson, Harvey, and Butler.

Adding Butler County brought in approximately $1 million, bringing Central Kansas Community Foundation’s resources to $12 million.

“I think anything that strengthens the Central Kansas Community Foundation is good for affiliates,” Executive Director Sandra Fruit said. “The more people involved with philanthropy, that helps us all.”

The amount raised by Hillsboro and Peabody foundations is included in the $12 million.

“You can make more money with more money,” Fruit said. “We pool our funds and we’re involved with pools from other counties.”

Central Kansas Community Foundation does much of the administrative work required to run a foundation — accounting and filing tax returns — that allows smaller foundations to focus on raising money in the community, Fruit said.

However, Fruit was unsure of how the merger might directly affect the Peabody and Hillsboro foundations.

Fruit said that the Hillsboro and Peabody foundations act as safe accounts for the community: it could be used to fund an idea or deal with a crisis.