Dave Jacobs

Growing up in Bedford in the 1920s and 30s, Dave Jacobs learned early in life about the value of community and the importance of giving.  “We were always taught that this community is our home, and you need to participate in it and understand it and enhance its value by what you can do for it,” Jacobs said.  His parents led by their own example of community involvement.  Scouting reinforced the idea for this young man that he should “help other people at all times.” 

Jacobs continued to manage the business his father opened in 1909, Bedford Furniture Galleries.  And he carried on the family tradition of community involvement with gusto, until he passed away in 2020.  He volunteered for the local Boy Scouts council and the Lawrence County Community Foundation.  Jacobs also served on the boards of the North Lawrence Scholarship Foundation as well as the Lawrence County Historical and Genealogical Society.  He was active with public bodies like the City Plan Commission too. 

In addition to giving his time, Jacobs provided financial support for a variety of causes that spoke to his values.  Three endowment funds at the Community Foundation helped him achieve some of his charitable goals.  In 2000, he founded a designated fund for the Hoosier Trails Council of Boy Scouts.  Each year the Hoosier Trail Council receives a designated grant from the earnings of this fund.

Before that, in 1996, he started the Jacobs Family Fund, a donor advised fund. Mr. Jacobs has a strong respect for the environment and envisions this fund helping to protect the environment by funding a variety of projects, such as planting trees for clean air and preserving agricultural land.  “I’ve always appreciated the way American Indians feel about life. . . they were caretakers for the land,” he explains.  “We have wonderful natural resources here in Lawrence County, and we need to take care of them.” 

In 2016, Mr. Jacobs established the David Alan Jacobs Community Fund. This unrestricted fund has the versatility to meet a wide variety of community needs.

Mr. Jacobs said, "Whether I'm here or not, I want the community to be a strong community." Though this kind and generous man passed away in 2020, the permanent endowments he established will continue to grow and strengthen this community through the grants they fund generation after generation.