About seven years ago Carol Gariepy from Marshfield mentioned a missionary family she knew of who would like to homeschool but didn't have money. I, (Carol Getty), donated a couple of items. A short time later she called me to see if I thought having a curriculum library would be a good idea to help people like her friend. I said sure.

About a year later, Carol said she was moving to Mansfield and the library she had started needed a home. I brought it to my garage for a short while and then found it a home at Day Spring Church here in Springfield. We were there for two years and then the church wanted the rooms for other purposes.

Fred and Jane Luper from Lebanon were friends of mine and when I heard they were taking a church in Springfield I inquired about any spare rooms they might have for the library. They graciously gave us the current space and we've been there 3-4 years now.

Over time I've desired two things—to have an umbrella group so I didn't feel like I was alone in this venture and that there would be other people to fall back on for volunteer help or other needs. I approached SHEM twice but they never jumped at the opportunity. Secondarily, I had wanted to give people some tax credit for all their donations of books.

When Pam Cooper started her nonprofit corporation (Home Education ShortStop) she asked me to be on her board. I agreed. That corporation had one branch—FIELD TRIPS!!! with Pam as Director. In 2004, she offered that my Fuel Your Imagination (FYI) idea become a branch of Home Education ShortStop with the purpose of covering the SAC Library along with a vision we shared in reaching out to our community. FYI and FIELD TRIPS!!! are 2 separate, independent branches; each with its own staff, clients, inventories, and daily operations.

I am Director of FYI. SAC is a department of FYI. FYI is a branch of Home Education ShortStop. Nothing changed in the way of services or general operations. It just gained a backing from a group, protection from liability issues, a tax status for donors, and a legal means to generate revenue to expand services to clients.

A good example of a for-profit business which is set up in a similar way is Wal-Mart and Sam's Club. Both are independent branches, yet they are owned by the same corporation.

A non-profit corporation means that the business is not registered as a commercial business and whose mission serves the general public. Nonprofit entities may qualify for certain tax deductions, and have the ability to become tax-exempt. Commercial entities have the concept of generating income for personal wealth. Nonprofit entities generate income to provide further services to the general public. The nonprofit administrative structures, accounting measures, and managerial structures are similar to for-profit businesses. There are various types of nonprofits. Nonprofits can generate revenue, provide simple to elaborate services, and be as complex as the United Way which deals with thousands of different service agencies on a daily basis. For example, St. John's hospital is a not-for-profit organization and includes staff, equipment, buildings, lawyers, collection agencies, physicians, numerous departments, and specialties. The YMCA is a multi-million dollar nonprofit organization. Bottom line, the title "nonprofit" does not mean that money cannot be generated or produced.

There you have a short history of SAC.