Lawson Community Foundation
The Lawson Community Foundation is a nonprofit organization that seeks to assist in shaping the future of our community by creating a shared sense of belonging and strengthening the social, cultural, and economic vibrancy of Lawson, Missouri.
The Foundation oversees fundraising efforts for various projects that benefit the quality of life for residents in Lawson. One of our first major undertakings is raising funds for a new ADA-compliant playground for the Lawson City Park. Events such as Piccadilly, Hickadilly are raising funds for the playground. For more information on upcoming fundraisers, visit our Facebook event page.
In 2023, the Foundation will begin overseeing the popular haunted house attraction that funds scholarships for local graduating seniors. The Haunt will take place weekends in October. More details on The Haunt’s Facebook page.
The Foundation will also be overseeing the Lawson Giving Tree, which supports families in need during the holidays. More information coming soon.
Board members include:
Nathan Cates (President), Jennifer Tiede (Vice President), Karla Mathis (Treasurer), Scot Tipton, Michael Stephenson
Donations to the Lawson Community Foundation are tax deductible.
Photos from Lawson Park Board's post
THE LAWSON HAUNT GOES DARK IN 2025
After an exhaustive search for new committee members, the Lawson Community Foundation and Haunt committee have announced that the Haunt will not take place this fall due to a lack of volunteers. The Haunt was started 9 years ago in Dale Stark’s garage and grew to take over an entire building with the support of a hardcore group of volunteers that ran it for the past 8 years. We had a successful year last year with the Haunt with a huge group of new volunteers, unfortunately this year the Haunt committee and Foundation was tasked with finding 10-12 volunteers to build the scenery and serve as characters over the course of 3 weekends and Halloween night. Although we had several people step up and volunteer time and energy towards the Haunt, we just didn’t have enough to pull off all nights of the Haunt. While we love the true meaning behind the Haunt and raising money for scholarships, we didn’t want to tarnish the legacy of the original Haunt crew. They did such an excellent job building and creating this legacy.
Haunt committee chair and Community Foundation board member Andrew Faulkner shares, “While it’s disappointing that the Haunt won’t take place this year, we thank the volunteers past and current for the time and effort into the Haunt. The Lawson Community Foundation board is determined to keep offering our scholarships to our local seniors.”
The Haunt has always been a funding mechanism for scholarships to local graduating seniors. Over the past 9 years, the Haunt has generated enough revenue to give out $40,000 in scholarships. Without the Haunt, the Foundation is now turning its attention to putting together a way to replace the income for the scholarships so they can continue. During our next meeting, the Foundation will meet and discuss a new way to raise funds for these scholarships. The Lawson Community Foundation board is open to suggestions from our community on ways to raise funds to keep continuing the scholarships. If you have suggestions please message us on our facebook page or reach out to scholarship chair Andrew Faulkner.
We thank you for the support over the years and we can’t wait to continue to impact our community in the years to come.
The Lawson Community Foundation Board
We are excited to announce our 2025 Haunt theme! This year we will be doing Freak-Show. Come one, scream all.
This event can't happen without our generous volunteers to help plan, build, decorate and scare people. We need all hands on deck for this to fully happen!
If you are interested in helping in any capacity please fill out the form below so we can contact you! We'd love to have you join us!
All proceeds raised from the Haunt goes towards scholarships for our local seniors. It takes a village to make this so successful!
Join us on August 11th for our next planning meeting. Please come so we can make this event a reality. If you can make this meeting please fill out this form so we can contact you!
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfUNwpCpQm-rkeopsAJScdJr7YMT16oJyLDqPsD7c93mTnpAw/viewform
🎷✨ Drumroll, Dames… ✨🎷
A Killer Night Is Brewing in the Roaring ’20s!
Slip on your fringe, pour the giggle water,
and get ready for a ritzy night of mystery and mayhem!
🖤 SAVE THE DATE 🖤
Gatsby Murder Mystery Piccadilly
🕵️♀️ A Ladies-Only Affair
📅 April 25th, 2026
📍 Lawson Lakeview Event Center
Someone’s got a secret…
Will you solve the crime or be part of it?
💄🎩 Flappers, feathers & false alibis encouraged.
Formal Invitation and Tickets Sales to follow!