MUSCATINE, Iowa – The main objectives of a community foundation are simple:

 Solicit donations and invest the money.

 Give away proceeds from those investments to better the community.

It’s another, more “amorphous” objective that is harder to understand, the president of the Community Foundation of Greater Des Moines told a Muscatine audience Tuesday.

“We need to get back to building social capital, building trust,” J. Barry Griswell said at the Community Foundation of Greater Muscatine’s annual meeting.

An audience of about 100 community leaders listened to Griswell in the ballroom of the Pearlview Condominiums building (the former Hotel Muscatine) at 101 W. Mississippi Drive.

Griswell, 60, the retired chairman, president and chief executive of The Principal Financial Group in Des Moines, is co-author of the book, “The Adversity Paradox: An Unconventional Guide to Achieving Uncommon Business Success.” It was released in April by St. Martin’s Press.

“Community has broken down in many of our communities,” Griswell said. He said fewer people are getting involved in activities ranging from voting to serving on Parent Teacher Associations.

“Building (this) social capital is what we’re really all about,” he said of community foundations. “We convene groups to solve problems.”

2008: A look back

In the annual report it released Tuesday, Muscatine’s community foundation highlighted ways it helped solve problems in the past year. In 2008, according to the report, the Foundation:

 Finished the year with $3.5 million in assets under its management.

Raised $1.19 million in contributions from 281 donors and revenue generated by its endowments.

 Reinvested $1.1 million in grants to 84 Muscatine-area clients that comprise of who’s who of cultural, educational and social-service groups and organizations.

Judi Holdorf, executive director of the Foundation, cited some people for their leadership in 2008, including:

 Muscatine Fire Chief Steve Dalbey and his wife, Dianne.

Dianne Dalbey died of cancer in October 2008 at age 42. She left a portion of her estate to establish a fund that will be used to give three scholarships annually to students in the community who pursue careers in nursing.

A framed photo of Dianne Dalbey will be the first hung, Holdorf said, on a newly created wall of fame in the foundation office in the Pearl Plaza building at 208 W. Second St.

Bob Jensen, founder and chief

executive of Temp Associates in Muscatine, and his wife, JoAnn, for making the first donation to establish the Foundation’s Cares & Shares Endowment, one of 10 new funds created in 2008. It will serve as a permanent resource for community giving in Muscatine, according to the Foundation.

Kudos

Griswell, who was raised in Atlanta by his mother after she divorced his drunken and abusive father for the second time, applauded the work being done in Muscatine by the Foundation, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year.

“There are a lot of people out there who are hurting,” he said of those who are homeless, hungry or battered. “Think of how tough it is for them.”

Getting involved as a youth in the Boys Club of America in Atlanta helped form the foundation for the person he has become, said Griswell, who isn’t paid a salary for his job with the Community Foundation of Greater Des Moines.

And, according to Griswell, it’s up to organizations such as the Community Foundation of Greater Muscatine to inspire people who are without hope.

“Somebody has to take these kids and help them,” he said.