The Schowalter Foundation is a Kansas-based Mennonite

Mennonite

The Mennonites are a group of Christian Anabaptist denominations named after the Frisian Menno Simons , who, through his writings, articulated and thereby formalized the teachings of earlier Swiss founders...

 philanthropic foundation

Foundation (charity)

A foundation is a legal categorization of nonprofit organizations that will typically either donate funds and support to other organizations, or provide the source of funding for its own charitable purposes....

 formed in 1954 from the estate of Jacob A. Schowalter

Jacob A. Schowalter

Jacob Abraham Schowalter was a Kansas farmer, business owner and Mennonite philanthropist whose estate formed the basis of the Schowalter Foundation....

 of Newton, Kansas

Newton, Kansas

Newton is a city in and the county seat of Harvey County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 19,132. Newton is located north of Wichita and is included in the Wichita metropolitan statistical area...

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Initially funded with an estate of $1,157,000, the foundation's assets reached $10,298,000 in 2003 ranking among the top thirty Kansas foundations. Income from the foundation's assets are used for relief work, training of missionaries and ministers and promotion of peace. Grant

Grant (money)

Grants are funds disbursed by one party , often a Government Department, Corporation, Foundation or Trust, to a recipient, often a nonprofit entity, educational institution, business or an individual. In order to receive a grant, some form of "Grant Writing" often referred to as either a proposal...

s totaled $425,950 in 2003.

The foundation was originally overseen by two representatives from each of the large Kansas Mennonite denominations: General Conference Mennonite Church

General Conference Mennonite Church

The General Conference Mennonite Church was an association of Mennonite congregations based in North America from 1860 to 2002. The conference was formed in 1860 when congregations in Iowa invited North American Mennonites to join together in order to pursue common goals such as higher education...

, (Old) Mennonite Church and Church of God in Christ, Mennonite

Church of God in Christ, Mennonite

Church of God in Christ, Mennonite is a 19th century offshoot of the Mennonite Church. They are also known as Holdeman Mennonites, after a leader, John Holdeman, who saw the decay in the Old Mennonite Church and having tried his best to reach all the mennonites in the US and Canada, and make them...

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