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Founded 2007 on the family office's account; federal ruling November 2008; seat at Edison Lakes
Lead: The largest private foundation seated in Mishawaka by its own community's measure is the Garatoni-Smith Family Foundation (EIN 26-2866592), of 4215 Edison Lakes Parkway. Its most recent register return reports assets of $51,949,068 — more than the Laidig family's four foundations combined, more than the hospital foundation and the hospice foundation's local peers, and the largest charitable fortune in the register that is Mishawaka's own rather than a health system's. The founding stands at two dates, as this section prints them: the Garatoni Family Office's own account, filed with the state in the Career Academy's authorizer application, states "The Garatoni-Smith Family Foundation was founded in 2007," and the federal ruling followed in November 2008. The foundation is administered by the Garatoni Family Office in the Edison Lakes office park, whose account states that philanthropic initiatives are the office's primary focus, aimed "primarily… on economic development in the South Bend-Elkhart Region" and on the Career and Success Academies.
The foundation's grantmaking, from its Form 990-PF as compiled, runs at 39 grants in the compiled year with total giving of about $1.4 million and a median grant of $5,000 — a long tail of small charitable gifts beside a few load-bearing commitments. The load-bearing ones are documented in other filers' records. The foundation's $2.5 million gift to Ivy Tech named the Center for Advanced Manufacturing and Automation in South Bend for Larry and Judy Garatoni, as the Indiana Commission for Higher Education's announcement records. A second Garatoni gift of $2.5 million, to Ivy Tech’s Evansville campus, announced in July 2022, stands printed in the Donations record and is not merged with this one. And the Career Academy of South Bend's audited financial statements — public filings of the school — show the foundation as the school's financial backstop: an unsecured note payable to the foundation of $16,240,211 at June 30, 2023, capitalizing at one percent, beside the board chair's guarantee, in the application record, that the foundation stands behind the schools' capital expenditures and operating deficits during his tenure. The founder's gifts at narrative size stand in the founders file; the structure stands here: a family office whose foundation underwrites a charter-school network's balance sheet, seated in a Mishawaka office park. Its scholars arm files separately — Garatoni-Smith Scholars Corporation, ruled November 2022, at the same Edison Lakes address.
Sources:
- IRS Business Master File, Indiana extract, November 2026: Garatoni-Smith Family Foundation (EIN 26-2866592, ruling November 2008, assets $51,949,068) and Garatoni-Smith Scholars Corporation (ruling November 2022).
- CANOPS Change in Authorizer Application, Indiana Charter School Board (in.gov): Garatoni Family Office account — foundation founded 2007, philanthropic focus, deficit guarantee.
- Career Academy of South Bend audited financial statements (State Board of Accounts report): the note payable to the Garatoni-Smith Family Foundation, $16,240,211 at June 30, 2023, and the related-party note.
- Indiana Commission for Higher Education announcement (June, via Trine): the foundation's $2.5 million gift to Ivy Tech; the foundation's Form 990-PF as compiled (TheShareWay/Instrumentl): 39 grants, total giving, median grant.