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Joplin Regional Community Foundation

Joplin Regional Community Foundation

A trusted resource for philanthropy serving the Joplin region.

Our Mission

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Joplin Regional Community Foundation serves Joplin, Carl Junction and Webb City. Our mission: To build and lead a better community through collaboration and charitable giving.

Since our founding on Dec. 16, 2006, we have distributed more than $59 million in grants to the community. We now hold assets totaling $11,153,207 as of June 30, 2023.

Our Leadership

Our foundation is led by members of our community.

  • Logan Stanley, President
  • Louise Secker, Vice President
  • Kevin Greim, Secretary
  • Ellen Carter
  • Jeremy Drinkwitz
  • Chris Dumm
  • Nancy Good
  • Lori Jones
  • Debi Koelkebeck
  • Priscilla McKinney
  • Sarah Mwangi
  • Erin Turner
  • Scott Vorhees
  • Roger Wrestler
  • Pete Ramsour, Foundation Manager

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Leading Locally

Joplin Regional Community Foundation serves local needs

The JRCF has distributed $59 million back to the community since its inception in 2006

Learn more

Joplin Regional Community Foundation opens $25,000 grant program

Oct. 2, 2024 — The Joplin Regional Community Foundation is accepting applications for its 2024 community grant program. A total of $25,000 is available for programs and organizations in the area. Applications are due by 11:45 pm on Tuesday, Oct. 22.

Nonprofit agencies with 501(c)3 or similar tax-exempt status like schools, faith-based organizations or governmental entities are eligible to apply for grants. In awarding grants, the JRCF and the Community Foundation of the Ozarks will not discriminate on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, national origin, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or veteran status.

Eligible nonprofits can begin the application process online at cfozarks.org/applyforgrants. For questions, please contact Pete Ramsour, JRCF affiliate manager, at 417-439-7328 or joplinrcf@cfoazrks.org.

CFO honors Joplin Regional Community Foundation for philanthropic leadership

July 17, 2024 — The Community Foundation of the Ozarks recently recognized the Joplin Regional Community Foundation for its philanthropic leadership to the community. As one of the CFO’s Affiliates of the Year, the Joplin Regional Community Foundation received a $5,000 award to supplement its annual grantmaking.

Selection for the award was based on growth in several categories, as well as examples of community leadership, collaboration and the promotion of planned giving. As of May 30, the JRCF’s assets had grown 13% to more than $11 million in 158 charitable funds. From July 1, 2023, to May 31, grantmaking from those funds totaled more than $3.3 million to address community needs and support causes important to donors.

“Every community needs champions who selflessly dedicate their time, talent and treasure to improve the lives of others,” said Alice Wingo, vice president of affiliates for the CFO. “As our regional affiliate network has grown over the last 31 years, these exceptional leaders provide great examples for others to follow.”

JRCF’s Philanthropic Society presents $130,000 in grants to area nonprofits

The Philanthropic Society of the Joplin Regional Community Foundation announced the recipients of three grants totaling $130,000 through its latest high-impact grant round on Tuesday, May 14. The grants were presented during the Philanthropic Society’s annual grant luncheon at Missouri Southern State University’s Ron Richard Athletic Center.

The three recipients of these grants are:

  • Joplin Police Department: $50,000 to provide the first-year salary of an embedded social worker within the Joplin Police Department. The ESW will assist by responding with the JPD to situations requiring de-escalation and providing ongoing care for residents in need of a more holistic approach than what patrol officers can provide. Training, equipment and office space will be provided by the JPD.
  • Creative Learning Alliance: $30,000 to support programming, supplies, equipment rental, and STEAMagination events and exhibits, to align with the CLA’s mission to create a place of lifelong learning where people of all ages embrace science as a way of knowing about themselves and their world.
  • Watered Gardens: $50,000 to help support a family-unit expansion at the Washington Family Hope Center — a shelter for mothers with young children in crisis or chronic homelessness, allowing them to stay together while working toward a better life. The expansion will allow physical separation for those families working in a longer-term program from those in crisis situations.

Following an application process, the winners were chosen from a group of six finalists by a committee made up of members of the Philanthropic Society. The program is open each year to 501(c)3 nonprofits and agencies with similar tax-exempt status like schools, government entities and faith-based organizations.

JRCF invites Philanthropic Achievement Award nomination

The Joplin Regional Community Foundation is inviting residents of Joplin, Webb City and Carl Junction to submit nominations for its second annual Philanthropic Achievement Award.

The award is intended to recognize outstanding and sustained charitable achievement by an individual, organization or business to benefit any of the three communities.

The person or entity selected for the award will receive a $2,500 donation to the 501(c)3 organization of their choice. A committee of the JRCF and selected community members will select the winner. The award will be presented at “A Celebration of Philanthropy” dinner at Missouri Southern State University on April 4.

Nominations are due by 5 p.m., Friday, March 1. Nominations can be made online here. Nominations also may be submitted by email to JRCF Manager Pete Ramsour at joplinrcf@cfozarks.org; or by mail to Joplin Regional Community Foundation, PO Box 471, Joplin, MO 64802. A PDF version of the application to use as a guide for email or mailed nominations is available here.

Considerations for the nominations can include:

  • Leadership-level giving that has furthered the mission of one or more nonprofit organizations in the Joplin/Webb City/Carl Junction region and benefitted the populations served by those organizations.
  • Encouragement and motivation of others to make precedent-setting gifts and assume volunteer fundraising leadership roles.
  • Demonstration of innovative approaches to nonprofit or institutional advancement.

JRCF presents $25,000 in grants to 14 nonprofits

The Joplin Regional Community Foundation announced a total of $25,000 in grants to 14 nonprofits through its latest community grant round on Tuesday, Dec. 12. The grants, supported by the Duane and Edith Lawellin Legacy Fund and the Cloyd Carlin Charitable Fund, were presented during an event at the Joplin Chamber of Commerce.

The grants were distributed to the following organizations:

  • Frank Childress Reserve Properties Committee: $2,500 for dining hall restrooms.
  • Children’s Center of Southwest Missouri: $1,500 to support the Teen Safety Matters program.
  • Lafayette House: $1,500 to support the Prevention Education program.
  • Fostering Hope: $1,500 for staffing support.
  • Greater Ozarks Audubon Society: $1,500 to support the Green Leadership Academy.
  • Great Wonders Productions: $2,500 for website development.
  • Loving Grace: $1,000 for transportation assistance for residents.
  • Jasper County CASA: $1,000 to support its mission.
  • Joplin Roadrunners: $1,500 to support its electronic timing project.


  • On Angels' Wings: $500 to support therapeutic photography for patients and families.
  • Breast Cancer Foundation of the Ozarks: $2,500 to support its financial assistance fund.
  • FosterAdopt Connect Springfield: $2,500 for soap, diapers and other hygiene items.
  • Southwest Missouri Community Alliance: $2,500 to support the Good Dads program.
  • Vita Nova Village: $2,500 to support its mission.

Following an application process, the recipients were selected by a volunteer committee of citizens in the Joplin Region. The program is open each year to 501(c)3 nonprofits and agencies with similar tax-exempt status like schools, government entities and faith-based organizations.

Gifts to the Duane and Edith Lawellin Legacy Fund for Southwest Missouri and the Cloyd Carlin Charitable Fund help increase the amount available for future rounds of the JRCF’s community grantmaking program. Secure online donations can be made for these funds here.

Joplin Regional Legacy Society

  • Jane Cage
  • Michelle Ducre
  • John and Nancy Good
  • Lisa Knutzen
  • Steve Lawver (Carl Junction Community Center)
  • Ann Leach
  • Sandra J. and Henry G. Morgan
  • Pete Ramsour
  • Michele D. Sexton, Matthew D. Lonardo, and Deandra R. Sexton
  • Marty & Lori Smith

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