The Kiwanis Tree Farm

A Legacy Project Growing Bradford’s Future

For more than half a century, the Kiwanis Tree Farm has been one of the most unique and productive Kiwanis projects anywhere in the world. Born from a partnership with Kendall Refinery in 1954 and powered by the Kiwanis Memorial Fund, the Tree Farm has turned local timber into long-term support for Bradford Regional Medical Center and our community.

Our Tree Farm: More Than Just Trees

The Kiwanis Tree Farm is not simply a patch of timber on a hill. It is a long-range financial engine created by the Kiwanis Club of Bradford to support our local hospital and community projects for generations.

In 1950, the Kiwanis Memorial Fund was established to provide ongoing financial support to Bradford Hospital. Four years later, Kiwanis leaders—working with Kendall Refinery and guided by a professional forester—created the Kiwanis Tree Farm to grow that support in a sustainable way.

Today, the Tree Farm remains one of the most distinctive Kiwanis projects anywhere: a 100-year agreement, a managed forest, and a carefully stewarded fund that turns timber income into long-term community benefit.

Quick Facts

  • 1950: Kiwanis Memorial Fund created to benefit Bradford Hospital
  • 1954: Kiwanis and Kendall Refinery sign a 100-year tree farm agreement
  • Revenue Split: 40% to Kendall/ARG, 60% to Kiwanis
  • Kiwanis’s share goes into the Kiwanis Memorial Fund
  • The Tree Farm has become the largest single source of income for the Memorial Fund
  • Over the decades, Kiwanis has given well over $136,000 to the hospital from the fund, including a $50,000 gift to start the UPBEAT program
  • Long-term projections from the revised forestry plan show potential total gifts of $1.5–$2 million over the life of the agreement

A Project Born in Kiwanis

The concept of the Tree Farm was created inside the Kiwanis Club of Bradford. Club member and professional forester Svend Rondum proposed the idea when Kiwanis was seeking ways to increase donations from the Memorial Fund.

With support from Kendall president—and fellow Kiwanian—J. Bertram Fisher, the vision became reality as a registered tree farm and long-term partnership.

Timeline & History

1950 – The Kiwanis Memorial Fund

In 1950, the Kiwanis Club of Bradford established the Kiwanis Memorial Fund specifically to benefit Bradford Hospital.

Three Kiwanis members were named trustees and given broad authority to accept, invest, and distribute funds. The trust document allows trustees to “make gifts to the hospital in such amount and form, at such time, and under such conditions as by the trustees may be deemed advisable.”

This Fund existed four years before the Tree Farm was created and remains the vehicle through which gifts are made to the hospital.

1954 – Creating the Kiwanis Tree Farm

In 1954, the Kiwanis Club and Kendall Refinery entered into a joint agreement to establish a tree farm on refinery-owned land.

  • Kiwanis initiated the agreement.
  • Kendall granted timbering rights and administration to Kiwanis for 100 years.
  • Profits would be shared: 40% to Kendall, 60% to Kiwanis.
  • Kiwanis’s share of net profits would be added to the Kiwanis Memorial Fund.

From the beginning, the Tree Farm was designed as a long-term, sustainable funding source for the Memorial Fund and, through it, Bradford Hospital.

Rethinking the Harvest – A New Forestry Plan

With guidance from a professional forester, Kiwanis later reviewed the existing cutting schedule and discovered a problem:

  • Under the old plan, the trees would be depleted in 37 years.
  • The hospital would receive less than $400,000 in total benefit.
  • At the end of that period, the tree farm would essentially cease to exist.

To protect the long-range value of the Tree Farm, the club considered a new strategy:

  • Make a major cut while cherry lumber prices were high.
  • Invest the proceeds into the Memorial Fund.
  • Continue to make annual gifts from investment income.
  • Preserve the principal and schedule a final cut near the end of the 100-year agreement.
A Stronger Future for the Hospital

The revised plan significantly increased the projected benefit to the hospital:

  • Annual grants could increase from roughly $10,000 to $25,000.
  • At the end of the Tree Farm agreement, the remaining principal plus profits from a final cutting could bring total gifts to somewhere between $1.5 and $2 million.

Kiwanis leaders saw this as their fiduciary responsibility—a way to turn a one-time resource into a multi-generation asset for Bradford Regional Medical Center and the community.

Clarifying Kiwanis’s Role and Intent

At one point, questions arose about whether the proceeds from a major cut should be turned over to the hospital immediately.

The Kiwanis Club’s position was clear:

  • Once Tree Farm proceeds enter the Kiwanis Memorial Fund, they are governed by the Memorial Fund trust document, not by hospital demand.
  • The club’s long history of generosity—and the new plan—both aim to maximize long-term benefit, not short-term relief.
  • The Tree Farm concept was created inside Kiwanis and has always been administered and managed by Kiwanis trustees.

The club affirmed its commitment to continued gifts to the hospital while protecting the integrity of the Memorial Fund and the Tree Farm for future generations.

Growing Good for Generations

The Kiwanis Tree Farm is more than a fundraising idea—it is a living symbol of what happens when local people think long-term about their community’s needs.

By carefully managing the forest, investing proceeds through the Kiwanis Memorial Fund, and focusing on the greatest long-range benefit to Bradford Regional Medical Center, Kiwanis has turned a stand of trees into a legacy of service.

As we look to the future, the Tree Farm remains a cornerstone of our club’s commitment to Bradford: growing good for generations.