Zanetti grant funds projects in Wallace, Osburn

Fostering spaces for senior citizens in Shoshone County was a passion Silverton resident Bill Zanetti set out to provide for beyond his lifetime.

A press release from the Idaho Community Foundation detailed how Zanetti had hit upon the idea to create a retirement community which would eventually become Good Samaritan Society — Silver Wood Village.

"He was always looking towards the future. He seemed to have a keen eye for creating opportunities that would ensure continued growth throughout the Silver Valley," Bill Zanetti’s nephew, Herb Zanetti, said in the release.

An Idaho Community Foundation charitable giving fund was established, and after he passed away in 2006, the fund went into effect. Each year from 2007 through 2022, Good Samaritan Society — Silver Wood Village received a distribution of approximately $60,000 per year from Zanetti's fund. 

“It was kind of his brainchild. He had aging relatives in the area and he wanted them to stay in the area where they lived their entire lives and had their support system. He and others in the area purchased this land and had the building constructed,” Jennifer Kronberg of the Idaho Community Foundation said in a phone interview. 

Last year, Silver Wood Village ceased to remain a nonprofit, leading to a change in how Zanetti’s charitable giving fund acted. Idaho Community Foundation is unable to distribute funds to for-profit agencies.

Kronberg said Zanetti's provision required the mayors of Wallace and Osburn as well as other local leaders to determine what the needs in their community were.

“Wallace said they needed some infrastructure repairs, Osburn said we need pickleball and fitness courts at Lions Park and they also supported the Silver Valley Seniors Meals on Wheels program,” Kronberg said.

In 2023, awards from the fund went to the city of Wallace for infrastructure repairs — $34,490, the city of Osburn for pickleball and fitness courts at Lions Park — $32,800, and Silver Valley Seniors received $1,690 in funds to support the Meals on Wheels program.

"It means so much that projects that have been a dream can now actually be completed because of his generosity," Osburn Mayor Kip McGillivray said in the release.

Kronberg said the future funding possibilities for Wallace and Osburn is exciting to consider.

“The fund is an endowed fund and so it will continue making these grants every single year in perpetuity. It’s part of our role as the community foundation to help people not only meet their charitable goals in their communities, but make them have a really lasting impact,” Kronberg said.