A local Family Resource Center.

We have a community foundation? Surprise! We have a community foundation. Three of them, actually. Word on the street is they’ve been around for a while, since 1997 for Eau Claire’s and Chippewa County wasn’t far behind with incorporation filed in 2001.Menomonie also gets down to business with a variety of projects based in and around Dunn County.

Community foundations help improve quality of life through tax-exempt charitable giving – and it all stays local. Here’s an example: Mr. and Mrs. Donor want to support a local cause they believe in, such as art and culture. They talk to the community foundation, donate, and the foundation can match Mr. and Mrs. Donor’s funds with donations from other citizens that care about the same thing. The foundation then identifies current and specific needs in their area, and sends over a hefty check. More money goes to the cause in the long run and the entire community benefits. People are happy. End of story, insert rainbow.

It all sounds cheesy and grand – and it is grand – but you probably want to know what direct impact we’ve seen in the community from these organized philanthropists. Here’s some solid evidence: Longfellow Elementary School gets much-needed support from Feed My People Food Bank – a nonprofit with direct funding and support from all three area community foundations. Through a grant application process, volunteer grant committee and board members collectively identified a need – something as simple as making sure that kids can eat on weekends when they go home and school lunch is not available – and made sure that need was met. They funded a project that created take-home bags of food for these children to keep them nourished and healthy; strong kids help a community flourish and thrive as later in life they enter the workforce and know what it means to receive and feel grateful. Hopefully, these children will remember fondly the health and care someone gave them and pay it forward.

 

The Community Table

The list of local legacies continues and includes Bolton Refuge House, The Community Table, the Greenhalgh Memorial Music Endowment Fund, and renovations at the Eau Claire Regional Arts Center. Community foundations deliver funds to emergency response organizations in time of need, as well as help connect volunteers to non-profits that need donations of time, compassion, and elbow grease. Students can also fulfill their service learning hours by connecting with the community foundation in their city – another great way to encourage students, local business owners, and citizens to get to know each other better.

Whether you want to make sure students are fed and ready for class, honor a loved one, or make an impact on an organization’s daily business functions with a gift of resources doesn’t matter. What does matter is that we each pitch in and do something great for our community. Donations come in all sizes; including, I’m told, in Ziploc bags from little kids who had a lemonade stand and gathered all the shiny coins they could.

Roll up your sleeves, count your quarters, and contact your local foundation about donating at any level, or connecting as a hands-on volunteer. In fact, the foundations are currently gathering support from area businesses and donors to match your funds now through Thanksgiving. They already have backing from WIPFLI, Lasker Jewelers, Market and Johnson, Bauman Associates, Ruder Ware, and more on the way. Right now your funds go that much further due to these generous supporters.

Each foundation will host Community Foundation Week from Nov. 8-12, as well as an Open House on Nov. 17, from 3-6pm. Visit the following websites to learn more and lend a little help: www.eccommunityfoundation.org, www.cfdunncounty.org, and www.comfdncc.org.