The Upper Valley Haven
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Haven Stories
Volunteers & Donors
The Timken Foundation
Ron Menning, Timken Aerospace
In 1999, The Haven’s Board of Directors committed to an expansion campaign to increase its sheltering capacity from four families to eight. Over the next four years, The Haven raised $2.4 million to purchase the property adjacent to the existing facility and construct the new building that now houses all The Haven’s programs.
“I was impressed with the amount of work being done with the resources on hand.”
A major stimulus during this campaign was a generous donation from the Timken Foundation. The Timken Company is the world's largest manufacturer of tapered roller bearings and mechanical seamless steel tubing. “With 150 plant sites internationally, 28,000 employees and $5 billion in sales in 2006, Timken is still tightly run as a family business,” says Ron Menning, Vice President of the Timken plant on Mechanic Street in Lebanon. “They are very much conscious of the community.”
Indeed, the Timken family foundation has given over $252 million in grants to public charities since 1934. When The Haven applied for a grant, Menning was responsible for investigating the project. He did a couple of site visits to The Haven, and met the volunteers and a family staying at The Haven’s Shelter. “I was impressed with the amount of work being done with the resources on hand.” The Foundation awarded The Haven $150,000 towards the capital campaign, and leveraged the gift as a matching grant. The Haven “challenged” the community to match the Timken Foundation’s generosity. Within months of the challenge, The Haven had received well over $150,000 in matching donations.