Alexis de Tocqueville Society

Tocqueville Society

 

Leading the Way: Tocqueville Society

The United Way Tocqueville Society is one of the world’s most prestigious institutions for individuals who are passionate about improving people’s lives and keeping our communities strong. The Society aims to create long–lasting changes through philanthropic leadership and personal giving. Membership in the Society is granted to those who contribute at least $10,000 annually to United Way.

Ordre de Fraternité (Order of Fraternity) | $75,000 - $99,999

Lowell & Nadine Andreas Foundation

Lowell Andreas was a philanthropist and a long-time contributor to United Way. His commitment to the community, particularly his passion for youth and education, was reflected in his generosity as the Greater Mankato Area United Way’s largest donor to date. Lowell joined his wife Nadine when he passed away in 2009 at the age of 87, but their legacy will continue to impact lives in the greater Mankato area.

Ordre de Liberté (Order of Liberty) | $25,000 - $49,999

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Olseth Family Foundation

The Olseth Family Foundation is working to improve the community through support of arts, education, the environment and the underserved. In 2017, the foundation’s passion for literacy and equal access to books led to Greater Mankato Area United Way’s Fourth–Grade Book Project, which provides a Shel Silverstein poetry book to every fourth-grader in the region. The Olseth Family Foundation supports many other community initiatives, including the BackPack Food Program, Echo Food Shelf, CADA House, VINE Faith in Action, Children’s Museum of Southern Minnesota, and the Recharge Mankato initiative in partnership with the Mankato Area Foundation and Minnesota State University, Mankato

Denny & Carole Dotson

Denny and Carole Dotson are longtime residents of Mankato and have enjoyed watching the community become a regional center. They have been supportive of community efforts that have evolved to handle the needs of an expanding diverse population, especially those that touch the lives of children.

Lyle & Kay Jacobson

As former owners of Katolight Corporation (now Rolls-Royce Solutions America), Lyle and Kay Jacobson were longtime supporters of United Way. Their history includes conducting successful employee campaigns, giving personally, giving through their business and giving through their donor advised fund of the Mankato Area Foundation. In addition to supporting United Way, Lyle and Kay gave additional support to many of the United Way agencies. Their philanthropic areas of emphasis were youth activities, education, the arts and humanitarian organizations. Overall they had a keen interest in enhancing the quality of life in the Mankato area helping to make it an attractive community for employee retention and recruitment and helping make it a community that provides opportunities for healthy family lives. Sadly, Lyle passed away in 2020, and Kay passed away in 2022. Their legacy of giving through United Way continues through their daughters.

Membres de la Société (Society Members) | $10,000 - $24,999

Anonymous Donor

Anonymous Donor

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Bill Anderson & Robin Wingo

Bill Anderson & Robin Wingo are both social workers who are now retired professors from the Department of Social Work at MSU, Mankato. They are especially concerned about the financing of area non-profit agencies during these challenging times, and have supported a variety of agencies such as CADA, ECHO, MVAC, Planned Parenthood and of course the United Way. One of their greatest pleasures is seeing the amazing work done by former students at many of the agencies in the region and across the country.

boyum

Heidi Boyum grew up in North Mankato, Minnesota, and currently lives north of St. Peter with her 9-year-old son Mitchell and two Standard Poodles Coach and Tessa. As owner/president of Jarraff Industries Inc, Heidi participated in fundraising efforts and donated to a variety
of community agencies, including Greater Mankato Area United Way, CADA, St. Peter Food Shelf, Mankato Area Foundation, and Echo Food Shelf. After selling Jarraff Industries in 2021, Heidi has enjoyed volunteering at FOCP and continues to donate to many deserving
charities, including Susan G. Komen 3-Day Walk, Goodwill of MN, Arbor Day Foundation, Blue Earth Nicollet County Humane Society (BENCHS), Angel Donations – St. Peter Public Schools, Lutheran Social Services and Special Olympics.

Bradley

Scott and Dawn Bradley moved to the Mankato area in 2010 and began their involvement with Greater Mankato Area United Way as a way to give back to the community and support the programs that are so critical to the area. As donors, they value the yearly evaluations of the partner agencies and the mentoring that United Way does with the partner agencies to ensure that donor dollars are invested to efficiently support the programs, making United Way the perfect vehicle to distribute donor funds.

Huebsch

Tim grew up just outside Mankato on his family’s farm and is active in the community both here in Mankato and across the Twin Cities. His involvement with United Way started more than 20 years ago through the workplace giving program at General Mills where he led the New
Hire & Emerging Leader Campaigns. That engagement with the Emerging Leaders program provided him a hands-on understanding of some of the critical needs in the community, allowed him to build connections across organizations, and see the amazing impact United Way has on our communities. Tim continues to volunteer and support the community through various nonprofits as he splits his time between the Twin Cities and Mankato.

Kaus

Nick and Kaitlyn Kaus have been active in Greater Mankato Area United Way for several years. They both believe that giving back to the community provides invaluable opportunities in improving mental health, education and overall quality of life. Their goal is to promote awareness of the value in donating to Greater Mankato Area United Way for generations to come.

Krause

Having lived in southern Minnesota their whole lives, David and Carolyn care deeply about the communities in the greater Mankato area. They share Pioneer Bank’s commitment to making those communities better places to live, work and play for the families who make this area their home. Their children and grandchildren all benefit from the quality of life our region is known for—made better because of United Way.

Lloyd

Marley and Judi’s family has made their home in the Mankato area for over 60 years. During that time, their family-owned company, Kaye Corporation, along with their employees, have always participated in the support of United Way. They feel United Way is very helpful for so many worthy organizations. They encourage everyone to consider participating. They are also encouraged by the United Way staff under the leadership of Barb Kaus.

Brad & Teresa Pratt

Phil & Margie Slingsby

Phil and Margie Slingsby feel strongly about supporting United Way because it reaches so many people in the Mankato area. There are many excellent non-profit groups and every year, United Way evaluates the needs of the citizens of the Mankato area and distributes the funds accordingly. Phil worked with the United Way campaign at Scheels for many years. As a retired Scheels manager, he saw how the corporation supports its communities, and Phil and Margie have been following its example of giving back to the community through United Way

Smits

Scott and Valerie Smits moved to Mankato in 2018 with a passionate desire to support local businesses and the community as a whole. United Way does both with the stringent yearly evaluations of the agencies seeking support to the diversity of the businesses themselves. A strong community of people helping people is something they want to be a part of. They are thrilled to be able to support Greater Mankato Area United Way.

Stuart & Ann Sneer

Having lived in Mankato for almost 30 years, the Sneers have witnessed many positive changes taking place in the surrounding area. The difference United Way and the non-profit organizations makes in the quality of people’s lives is important, especially those that touch the lives of children.

Stuart, Ann and the United Prairie Bank team have been long-time supporters of Greater Mankato Area United Way and are proud to continue serving the community in giving, volunteering and other aspects.

Todd Snell

Longtime Mankato resident Todd Snell is an integral part of the Greater Mankato community, from owner of Snell Companies to active member of various nonprofit organizations.

Snell Companies, including Snell Motors, Snell Powersports & Equipment, Snell Auto Wash and Snell Tire & Lube, has created job opportunities and additional traffic in Mankato, supporting the regional hub and overall development of the area. Throughout the business growth, Todd has kept the Mankato community a priority. On top of continually supporting United Way, he is involved with a number of other area nonprofits and also finds himself spending much of his time in the community with his children’s activities.

Glen & Becky Taylor

As a Board Member from 1976–1978 and Campaign Chair in 1980, Glen Taylor has been an avid supporter of our United Way. Members of the Heart Club since its inception in 1990, Glen and Becky Taylor joined the United Way Tocqueville Society in 2009.

In addition to supporting United Way, Glen and Becky have been involved in various organizations in the community and are generous supporters of several area non-profits.

VanRoekel

Steve VanRoekel is committed to making life better for others in
our community. He embodies what it means to LIVE UNITED by
giving generously of his time, talent and treasure to Greater Mankato
Area United Way and numerous other nonprofit organizations with
a passion to improve the lives of all individuals and families in our
community. In 2022, Steve was a member of the Greater Twin Cities
United Way Tocqueville Society and now serves on their Tocqueville
Cabinet. Greater Mankato Area United Way has been fortunate to
count Steve as an integral part of our volunteer leadership team for
several years, including serving as past Campaign and Board Chair.

Steve & Beth Weisbecker

Though not born and bred in Mankato, Steve and Beth Weisbecker have a deep, deep love for this city and the area. Since becoming a United Way “loaned executive” back in the late ’70s, Steve has seen first-hand what amazing work the various agencies do for our region. United Way has been and will be their number one charity for giving.

Steve also believes it is his honor and responsibility to demonstrate to his Lloyd Management employees how important it is to give back to Greater Area Mankato United Way and their community. The Lloyd Management team is proud of their year-in and year-out giving record!

west

Buster and Nina West have lived in this area for over 50 years. Buster is a financial advisor and Nina is a retired St. Peter educator. Buster is a past chair for the United Way of St. Peter. They became committed to United Way at that time. The proactive effort by Greater Mankato Area United Way is a great addition to the traditional method of waiting for requests.

In great appreciation for their spirit of generosity, we thank the Greater Mankato Area United Way Tocqueville Society members for inspiring hope and creating opportunities for a better tomorrow.