David and Noreen Revier

David and Noreen Revier’s busy lives have not slowed in retirement. As always, the Coralville couple have kept focused on family, community, and faith. They have even taken up new pursuits. David, a retired Scheels All Sports executive and Noreen now also own a farm near Sigourney which is a return to their roots. Noreen grew up on a farm in northeast South Dakota as did David and during high school summers he worked on farms there.

But retirement did give the thoughtful, unassuming high school sweethearts time to consider how to extend their lifelong practice of generosity.

“We were looking for a more effective way to give back to the community,” David said. “To be honest, we knew nothing about how to do that, but it quickly became clear that a family fund was exactly what we needed.”

With encouragement from both their attorney and their accountant, the couple worked with the Community Foundation of Johnson County (CFJC) to establish the Revier Family Endowment Fund, a donor advised fund that will support causes they care about in perpetuity.

Through the fund, the Reviers give to a variety of local arts organizations, including Hancher Auditorium and the Coralville Performing Arts Center, as well as human service charities such as Shelter House, Table to Table, and the Coralville Food Pantry.

“I especially like to donate to groups that help children,” Noreen, a former obstetrics nurse, said. “In Sioux City,” where the couple lived before moving to Coralville in 1997, “we continue to support a great organization called Girls, Inc. We saw how they helped bring girls out of poverty. Often their families had struggled for generations, and they broke that cycle.”

“We raised two daughters, so we understand the importance of investing in girls,” Noreen said.

Dave also serves as treasurer of the Coralville Community Fund board, a CFJC affiliate, which is another way of giving back.

Creating and building their fund with the Community Foundation has been a great experience that the Reviers highly recommend to others.

“We like to watch things grow over time,” David said. “The foundation staff does such a great job of keeping you apprised of how your fund is developing.”

“For us, the [25 percent state] tax credits made such a difference.”

“And because we take giving seriously, we enjoy the whole granting process,” he said. “This fall we will give 12 to 14 gifts from the fund, and that’s always gratifying.”