Small Gifts Make A Difference

Christian Petersen’s sculpture “The Price of Victory” has always held a special spot in Florine Swanson’s heart.

The sculpture of a dying World War II soldier reminded her of her father, a veteran of that war who lost a hand in combat. The disability payments from that injury eventually helped pay Florine’s tuition, room and board at Iowa State University.

“The sculpture looked so much like my father,” she said. “I was very taken by that.”

So taken that she attempted to persuade her mother to help with the restoration of the sculpture. Florine was then serving as the executive director of the 4-H Foundation on campus and was assisting University Museums with their fundraising efforts.

Florine couldn’t convince her mother of the need to help with the restoration project. And when her mother died, Florine didn’t think the estate would have any remaining assets.

“Instead she had pinched and saved to take care of herself in her old age,” Florine said. “After she died I thought I could use part of the inheritance I received to do something that I wanted her to do while she was alive.”

Florine gave that inheritance to University Museums to restore the sculpture that reminded her so much of her father in her parent’s memory.

While that wasn’t the first gift Florine made to Iowa State, at the time it was the largest gift she had made. Since then, the self-described “middle class” woman has continued to support Iowa State in any number of areas, including the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and her own beloved 4-H Foundation.

4-H is in Florine’s blood. She was a life-long 4-H’er, joining the organization as a 10-year-old and staying in the group through her freshman year in college. She was active as a youth in 4-H, traveling to Chicago, Washington, D.C., and Germany.

After graduating from Iowa State (’64 home economics education), marrying her husband, Ronald (’61 farm operations) and moving to a farm north of Webster City, 4-H came calling again.

“Two young girls came to our door and wanted to know if I would be their 4-H leader,” Florine recalled. “I had gotten so much out of 4-H while I was a youth I wanted to give back. I never realized it would start a month after I graduated from Iowa State.”

Florine served in that capacity for 15 years. She eventually was elected to the 4-H Foundation board and then served as the executive director of the organization from 1987 to 2005.

During Florine’s years with the 4-H Foundation, the organization became more serious about fundraising.

“We were facing major improvements at the (4-H) camp and we wanted to provide other opportunities for young people,” she said. “We couldn’t do that without an aggressive fundraising effort.”

Florine’s involvement with philanthropy was just an extension of her own personal efforts in this area. She has become involved in endeavors in this area. She has become involved in any number of fundraising campaigns, not only for the 4-H, but also for other local, state, national, and international organizations. Each has had a common thread for Florine.

“As I look back, most of our philanthropy has revolved around children and women’s issues,” she said. “I’m not a wealthy woman; we’re very middle class, and so my big gifts are small in comparison to others.

“But I like to think that my contributions have made a difference — whether it’s supporting 4-H or a local project that makes my community a better place to live. I feel like we’re investing in something, not just giving money away. And when you know that something you’ve done has made a difference, you get a special feeling, knowing you’ve done the right thing.”