Bird Island has always been home for Rob and Renae Saunders, though it’s not always where they’ve lived.
The couple lived in San Diego during Rob’s career as a U.S. Naval Flight Officer. And their home in retirement is a bit farther north. But in their hearts, the welcome mat sits at the door to this small agricultural community along U.S. Highway 212.
“I hung my shingle, and within three months the building I was in burned down and I was without an office building. But the community was very supportive,” he said. Several offers of free office space kept the business going, a successful start for what would become the Saunders Mertens Schmitz accounting firm. The family thrived. They welcomed second daughter, Holly, and happily found themselves entwined in the fabric of this small town. “My business grew because of this community. Our kids got a great education here. They were fortunate to have some fantastic teachers. All of those things were things we may have been able to get in a large community, but I think my success is because I came back to a small community that knew who I was and supported me because I came back,” Rob said. They’ve brought a lot to their hometown, investing their time and energy in early childhood and local business, helping found the BIO Legacy Foundation and BOLD Early Childhood Initiative, both of which are SWIF affiliates. But they’ve also invested in “Everyone wants to donate to something that’s doing what they think is the right thing. But you also want to donate to something that’s successful. Because we see every day what SWIF has done in our communities, that makes it easy to give,” Rob said. Just like Renae Saunders, we’re passionate about giving southwest Minnesota kids the best possible start to a healthy life of learning, achieving and succeeding.
the larger community of southwest Minnesota. As Growing Home Circle members, Rob and Renae’s support of Southwest Initiative Foundation makes a difference in many hometowns.
Best Start for Our Kids
LIGHTBULB MOMENTS
In 2000, Rob’s accounting background sparked a connection with SWIF through our loan advisory committee, and he was elected to our board of directors in 2007. The 10-year term was “a life changer.”
“SWIF really got me to see southwest Minnesota. And I was utterly amazed at what’s out there in some of these smaller communities,” Rob said. “Every community has got something — whether it’s somebody in their community or some company in their community — something that makes them special and allows them to survive and thrive.”
The challenge is to keep that spark. Rob and Renae were with SWIF President and CEO Diana Anderson and her husband, John, when they all had a lightbulb moment that helped set SWIF on the path to Grow Our Own, lifting up kids living in poverty in southwest Minnesota.
All four were listening to Robert Putnam, a Harvard professor of public policy and bestselling author, who illuminated the opportunity gap for youth in poverty: Not all of these kids—no matter how hard they try—will be able to reach their full potential.
“His examples and his delivery and how he laid it out, we just went, ‘Wow, this is really important,’” Rob said. “This really is speaking to what we’re trying to do in southwest Minnesota. It’s the economic development piece, it’s the early childhood piece, it’s families, it’s all tied together and all makes sense.”
The end of Rob’s board service with SWIF was the beginning of the Grow Our Own work, and he continues to be one of its greatest champions. Helping kids succeed from the start has been lifelong work for Renae. She originally earned a degree in home economics, but went back to school after her kids were grown to get a teaching degree. She taught, coordinated the local Early Childhood Family Education program at BOLD School District and later volunteered with SWIF as BOLD’s local Early Childhood Initiative coordinator.
“Each age is kind of special; they all have different skills. It’s fun seeing kids grow and change and become more independent,” Renae said. “Early childhood will probably always be my priority because it affects adults and communities too. And you want everybody to be healthy and happy, whether it’s people or communities.”
When she began working with the Early Childhood Initiative, she and other early childhood advocates were inspired to reach out locally in support of our littlest learners. Their work culminated in BOLD adding free preschool in 2014, Renae’s proudest career accomplishment.
With their heart for kids and families, it’s no surprise some of Rob and Renae’s favorite moments are spent with their grandchildren — cross country meets, baseball games and time at the lake.
“We have two great girls and they’ve married great guys, and we have two ‘great’ grandchildren,” Renae said.
