By Chad Koenen

Publisher

Amundson Park in Henning is undergoing a major face-lift and upgrade thanks to Lloyd and the late Barbara Amundson.

The park, which bears their family name, recently had a new bathroom facility with shower stalls constructed earlier this year, as well as plans for five new camping sites near Jenson St. in the park.

Last week Amundson officially donated $60,000 to the City of Henning to construct playground equipment at the park near the former volleyball courts. 

The park, as a whole, is part of the family’s goal of giving back to the communities and surrounding areas that have First Security Banks.

In 1992, Amundson and his wife Barbara were reflecting on their good life and asked themselves what they could do to give back some of the good fortune they had experienced in their lifetime.

“We were talking about how lucky we have been with our education and being in the right places at the right times and meeting the right folks,” said Amundson. “We asked ourselves, ‘what can we do for these towns that have been loyal to us’ and decided that scholarships would be the thing we could do.”

The Amundsons proceeded to endow a scholarship fund of $5 million with the idea that only the earnings off the principal would go to the scholarships. Amundson said under this plan, the scholarships could virtually go forever to help people for years to come.

LA Amundson himself was dependent on the financial help of others to attain his college degree.

“There was no chance, not one chance in a thousand, that I could’ve ever gone to college without the GI Bill,” he said.

Since 1993, the Amundson scholarship fund has awarded $8.5 million in scholarships to 6,102 recipients through what is now the LA Amundson Ohana Foundation. 

Yearly, a new round of scholarships is awarded to graduating seniors that meet the requirements, and they may also re-apply their second year once they are in college.

In addition to the scholarships awarded, the LA Amundson Ohana Foundation has donated over $6 million to organizations with close ties to the community and surrounding areas that have First Security Banks.