Frederick Finnup, George's son, attended and graduated from Washburn College in Topeka, Kansas. He had not been long in the land business with his father when the drought and depression struck. There was practically no income from the land, everything was mortgaged and those who owed couldn't pay. He struggled with a long list of debts and after several years he eventually paid off the debts. He and Isabel continued in the family business and neither ever married. They never lost the vision that their grandfather and father had for Garden City.
Recognizing that vision, Frederick and Isabel established the Finnup Foundation Trust on October 25, 1977. Upon their deaths, each of their estates would transfer into the Foundation. The Foundation was established under the IRS Code as a 501C3 Foundation for the purpose of dispersing income earned by farming interests, oil and gas interests and investments, to qualified charitable organizations. One year later, Isabel Finnup died.
A list of many of the land and building gifts that the Finnup Foundation has funded throughout the years can be found here: Finnup Foundation Land/Building Gifts
Documents setting up the trust outline the Finnup philosophy in sharing the family's prosperity:
"There is an obligation to use any wealth for the preservation and extension of the religious, cultural, intellectual, moral and charitable aspects of our heritage, as well as the protection of our system of government, for the betterment and general welfare of our people, now and in the future............."
