Doing What They Can
Hilery Livengood and Ben Fashimpaur
Hilery Livengood and Ben Fashimpaur have made giving back a way of life. What started as small steps has grown into a meaningful journey of generosity—proof that persistence and purpose can create lasting change.
They first met while attending Washington High School. Years later, they reconnected when they were both cast in a Theatre Cedar Rapids production of The Sound of Music. Hilery and Ben married in 2015 and since then, they have worked hard to grow their support for the arts, human services, and other local causes—something they feel is their duty.
“Having grown up here, we’ve benefitted from the people who put money toward our schools and all the different things we were involved in as kids,” Hilery said. “An earlier generation did that for us, so it’s our turn now.”
Both Hilery and Ben grew up seeing philanthropy in action and hearing about the importance of giving back. As a professional fundraiser, Hilery sees firsthand how philanthropy builds community and changes lives. When her brother Matt passed away in 2012, she encouraged the family to honor his legacy with a donor-advised fund at the Greater Cedar Rapids Community Foundation.
Support from family and friends has helped the fund grow, and the conversations about recommending grants from the fund have helped the family keep Matt’s memory alive. To date, the endowed fund has granted to ten local nonprofits and continues to grow.
The impact of that experience inspired Hilery and Ben to establish two additional charitable funds of their own as they were able. Through a designated fund, they’ve endowed their annual gift to United Way of East Central Iowa. A separate donor-advised fund allows them the flexibility to respond to community needs.
For both funds, the couple used the Community Foundation’s Prairie Fund option, which allows donors to build their charitable funds gradually through smaller gifts over several years. Though they may not have had the means for making substantial gifts in any given year, they focused on what was meaningful to them.
“Of course, meaningful is different to every person, and it changes over your lifetime,” Hilery said. “You don’t have to start huge, but the important thing is to start,” Ben added.
Starting early has allowed the couple to approach philanthropy with long-term goals and plans. By prioritizing giving and making consistent tax-wise gifts, Hilery and Ben have made progress toward those goals.
The Matthew Carl Livengood Memorial Fund was established in honor of Hilery’s brother and has helped the family keep his memory alive.
“We’re fortunate enough to be done putting money away for the kids’ college, so we’ve redirected some of those funds to our donor-advised fund,” Hilery and Ben said. They’ve also named the Community Foundation as beneficiaries of their retirement plan and used “bunching” to maximize their giving power. “Especially when we retire, our Community Foundation funds will help us continue to support local nonprofits”
But Hilery and Ben aren’t just planning for their own future. As lifelong residents of Linn County, they’re familiar with the community’s resilience and generosity in the face of challenges. As committed philanthropists, they recognize the importance of bringing others along on the journey.
And like all good philanthropists, Hilery and Ben are hopeful—hopeful that they can inspire the next generation, that our community will continue to care for each other, and that local nonprofits will keep bringing people together.
“I also hope that we can be an example so others see that there are ways to start,” Ben said. ”Over time, that start you make can become very effective. Just by consciously trying to maximize the value of what we do have, we can actually achieve a lot of good.”
To learn more about giving through the Community Foundation, click here.