Mary Helen Roberts Trust
Watseka, IL · EIN 46-6985483. Reported 138 grants totalling $861,173 to 56 organizations across tax years 2021-2024. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.
Does this foundation accept applications?
Yes -- on its own tax return. Form 990-PF asks every private foundation whether it makes grants only to organizations it selects itself. Of the 91,758 foundations in our data that made a grant and answered, 78% said yes -- and applying to those is wasted effort. Mary Helen Roberts Trust did not check that box on its most recent filing, which puts it in the minority that is at least open to being approached.
How big are its grants?
The median grant is $2,500. Half of everything it gave fell between $1,500 and $5,000; the smallest was $250 and the largest $52,719. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.
Every organization it funded
This is the complete list from its filings, largest first. Years funded is the number of separate tax years in which the organization received money -- more than one means a real relationship rather than a one-off.
| Organization | Location | Total received | Grants | Years funded | Last |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Iroquois West School District 10 | Gilman, IL | $200,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Gilman Cemetery District | Gilman, IL | $154,893 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Gilman Comm Fire Protection Distric | Gilman, IL | $51,755 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Iroquois Memorial Hospital | Watseka, IL | $41,493 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| The Garage in Gilman | Gilman, IL | $31,450 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Douglas Township Park Dis | Gilman, IL | $31,405 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Danforth Twp Comm Bldg | Danforth, IL | $26,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Durham Park | Onarga, IL | $22,545 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Gilman United Methodist Church | Gilman, IL | $20,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Christ Lutheran Hs | Buckley, IL | $16,600 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| The Arc of Iroquois County | Watseka, IL | $16,505 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Summer in the Park | Gilman, IL | $16,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| First United Methodist Church Food | Watseka, IL | $15,500 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Martinton Comm Food Pantry | Martinton, IL | $15,500 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Lutheran Home for Aged Development | Danforth, IL | $15,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Clifton Food Pantry | Clifton, IL | $13,500 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Iroquois Co Ag & 4H Fair | Ashkum, IL | $13,040 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Iroquois Co Sheriff's Office | Watseka, IL | $12,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| St Paul's Lutheran Church | Gilman, IL | $8,752 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Cissna Park Church Food Pantry | Cissna Park, IL | $8,500 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Danforth Centennial Park | Danforth, IL | $8,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Gilman Danforth District Lib | Gilman, IL | $8,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Loda Township Library | Loda, IL | $8,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Onarga Public Library Dist | Onarga, IL | $8,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| St Johns Lutheran School | Buckley, IL | $7,250 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Sheldon Area Food Pantry | Sheldon, IL | $5,500 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Iroquois Co Historical Society | Watseka, IL | $5,250 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Marine Toys for Tots | Watseka, IL | $5,250 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Calvary Lutheran Preschool | Watseka, IL | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Onarga Historical Society | Onarga, IL | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Wendy M Haase Reading Fund | Birmingham, AL | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Country Theater Workshop | Cissna Park, IL | $4,500 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Central Citizens Library Dist | Clifton, IL | $4,235 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Food From the Heart Inc | Watseka, IL | $4,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Gilman Old Boys & Girls Assn | Gilman, IL | $4,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Gods Food Pantry | Gilman, IL | $4,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Iroquois County Goat Producers | Crescent City, IL | $4,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Watseka Public Library | Watseka, IL | $4,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Sugar Creek Opera Ltd | Watseka, IL | $3,500 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Volunteer Services of Iroquois Co | Watseka, IL | $3,350 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Camp 911 | Gilman, IL | $3,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| City of Gilman | Gilman, IL | $3,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Crescent Iroquois Boosters | Crescent City, IL | $3,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Girl Scouts of Central Il | Champaign, IL | $2,400 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Cissna Park Community Library | Cissna Park, IL | $2,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Milford District Library | Milford, IL | $2,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| St Johns Lutheran Church | Danforth, IL | $1,950 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Unit 9 Academic Foundation | Watseka, IL | $1,500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Onarga Fire Department | Onarga, IL | $1,250 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Cissna Park Schools Ag Dept | Cissna Park, IL | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Clifton Public Library | Clifton, IL | $1,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Danforth Historical Society | Danforth, IL | $800 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| South Pointe Youth for Christ | Bourbonnais, IL | $750 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Ford-Iroquois 4H Foundation | Watseka, IL | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Sleep in Heavenly Peace | Watseka, IL | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Sleep in Heavenly Peace | Omaha, NE | $250 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
37 of 56 (66%) received money in more than one year over the 4 years we hold.
Measured the way we measure every foundation -- what share of one year's grantees are funded again the next -- this one retains 82%, across 3 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is unusually consistent. A high number means its list is close to settled and a newcomer has to displace someone; a low one means it is still moving money around, which is where an opening is.
What the money was for
Taken verbatim from the purpose field of its filings. This is the closest thing to a statement of what this foundation cares about, in its own words.
- Gilman Comm Fire Protection Distric
EXTRICATION EQUIPMENT/TURNOUT GEAR - Douglas Township Park Dis
BACK STOP FENCING MANN PARK - The Garage in Gilman
TUCK POINTING AND BRICK REPLACEMENT - Lutheran Home for Aged Development
FOUR SEASONS ROOM FOR RESIDENTS - Iroquois Co Ag & 4H Fair
SHOWER HOUSE ROOF REPLACEMENT - Danforth Twp Comm Bldg
REPLACE CHAIRS/UPGRADE GYM
What kind of organizations it funds
By the recipient's own IRS classification, for the 28 grants where we could identify the organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses.
Giving by year
| Tax year | Grants | Total | Median grant |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 33 | $220,194 | $2,400 |
| 2022 | 36 | $237,648 | $2,800 |
| 2023 | 32 | $206,245 | $3,000 |
| 2024 | 37 | $197,086 | $2,500 |
Tax years, not calendar years, and the most recent year is usually incomplete -- filings arrive about a year late, so a low final year means late paperwork rather than a foundation winding down.
Where its money goes
Foundations concentrate geographically far more than their mission statements suggest. 99% of this one's giving went to organizations in Illinois. If you are outside its footprint, that matters more than how well your programme fits.
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Funders that support the same organizations
These funders gave to organizations this one also funded -- some private foundations, some community foundations and other grantmaking charities. Shared grantees are the strongest available signal that two funders have overlapping priorities, and a funder already backing your peers is a far warmer prospect than one that merely lists your cause.
How to approach this foundation
- Check you are its size. The median grant is $2,500. Asking for ten times that is the most common way small organizations waste a submission.
- Check you are in its geography. Its giving is concentrated in Illinois.
- Read the recipient list above for organizations like yours. If nothing on it resembles your work, that is a real answer, and a cheap one to get.
- Look up the current filing before writing. The 990-PF names the foundation's officers and, where one exists, its application procedure. We link it below.
Related guides
Where these numbers come from
Everything above is taken from Mary Helen Roberts Trust's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 4 returns (tax years 2021-2024). Nothing here is scraped, inferred, or estimated.
Address of record on the latest return: Po Box 160 120 E Walnut Street, Watseka, IL, 60970. This is the address the foundation gave the IRS; many small foundations file through an accountant or a bank trust department, so it may not be where post to a programme officer should go.
EIN 46-6985483 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
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