Helping Hinton

A local attorney gives back where it counts.

In the small city of Hinton along the New River, life is peaceful. Neighbors wave hello, and business owners are happy to lend a helping hand. Attorney David Ziegler made the quiet Summers County community home in the 1970s.

For more than 40 years, David has been a local leader. In late 2013 David received the Lifetime Achievement Spirit of Philanthropy Award as part of Philanthropy West Virginia’s 20th anniversary. Philanthropy West Virginia, formerly West Virginia Grantmakers, established the awards program in 2007 to recognize outstanding philanthropic leaders. “I was honored and flattered and a little bit embarrassed,” David says. “What I’ve managed to do here I haven’t done by myself. There are always other people helping.”

David says he’s most proud of his work with the Hinton Area Foundation. He was one of the foundation’s incorporators in 1992 and has been on its board most years. “The foundation started with zero assets and we’re now at about 3.7 million. That’s significant for a small community like Hinton. We have a goal of getting to 10 million by the year 2020.” The foundation has nearly 50 individual endowed funds covering everything from scholarships and the arts to funds that support 4-H, the veteran museum, and beautification.

David has a long history of helping Hinton. He was president of a local arts group in the ’70s when he and others instigated the founding of the Summers County Public Library. Around 2000, he and another area woman started the local Humane Society. He says all of his efforts were not made alone, but alongside other passionate residents. And he says he owes it to Hinton. “The community’s been good to me. I’ve made a living here since 1974. My father instilled in me the notion that if a society gives you an education, then you owe something back.”