A trusted resource for philanthropy serving the Lake of the Ozarks region.
Since our founding on Aug. 3, 2009, the Community Foundation of the Lake has distributed more than $2.9 million back to the community. We now hold assets totaling $2,871,815 as of June 30, 2023.
Community Foundation of the Lake awarded $56,000 to 21 local nonprofits at the Convention & Visitors Bureau Annual Dinner on March 15.
The 2023 grantees are as follows:
CFL President, Jane Wright, stated, “I want to thank our loyal supporters without whom we could not continue to implement improvements on health issues, give attention to the arts, and support educational needs identified in our grant making program.”
April 27, 2023 — During the Rural Philanthropy Summit on April 25, the Community Foundation of the Ozarks selected the Community Foundation of Lake as an Affiliate of the Year. The award recognizes the CFL’s excellence in leadership in the CFO’s 53-member affiliate network and comes with a $3,000 prize grant. CFL President Jane Wright accepted the award.
The award recognizes the Community Foundation of the Lake’s consistent and proactive work in establishing partnerships in its community, which has garnered it more than $10,000 in donations this year for its charitable work.
The Ash Grove Area Community Foundation, Barton County Community Foundation, Cape Area Community Foundation and the Nevada/Vernon County Community Foundation were also recognized as Affiliates of the Year.
The affiliates were selected using several criteria — asset growth, new funds established, overall grantmaking and new Legacy Society members in the 2022 fiscal year that ended June 30, 2022 — along with examples of community leadership, collaboration and the promotion of planned giving.
In addition to grant prizes presented in honor of affiliate leaders, affiliate foundations received a total of $23,000 to supplement their annual grantmaking to the communities they serve. The awards mark 30 years of the CFO’s Affiliate Foundation program, which began in 1993 with the establishment of the Nixa Community Foundation.
“For 30 years, our regional affiliate foundations have done so much to improve the quality of life in many communities across our wide service area,” said Alice Wingo, the CFO’s vice president of affiliates. “Our foundation leaders work hard to build long-term, sustainable resources that will benefit all sectors of a community. With exemplary foundations and leaders like the ones honored today, these 53 towns, counties and regions have bright futures ahead.”
The awards capped off the Rural Philanthropy Summit, presented by the CFO and Philanthropy Missouri at the Oasis Convention Center. The event is believed to be the first statewide gathering of philanthropists and foundations focused on the development of rural communities.
Nov. 18, 2022 — The Community Foundation of the Lake will beautify the Magic Dragon Skills Park with a mass planting of 1,000 daffodil bulbs to bloom in spring 2023 to commemorate the spirit of philanthropy across the region.
The daffodil project is a joint effort between the CFL and the Community Foundation of the Ozarks, celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2023 by providing 50,000 daffodil bulbs, which are being planted in more than 40 communities this fall.
The daffodils will be planted at the Magic Dragon Skills Park with support from the Magic Dragon trails volunteers. The CFO provided a $1,000 grant made possible by the Louis L. and Julia Dorothy Coover Charitable Foundation administered by the CFO in partnership with Commerce Trust.
Daffodils were selected for this anniversary project because they naturally spread and multiply over time as a symbol of the impact philanthropy and planned giving have on communities that support the CFO’s 53-member network of affiliate foundations.
“We are blessed with volunteers who have donated their time and talent to build the skills park, and then to donate more time to mass plant these daffodil bulbs in the rocky clay soil of the Ozarks,” CFL president Jane Wright said.“
The CFL has commemorated 13 years of philanthropy growing stronger every year, thanks to our generous supporters and community partnerships.” More information on the Magic Dragon Trails Initiative can be found at Magicdragontrails.com or at Communityfoundationofthelake.com.
Nov. 29, 2022 — The CFL is pleased to announce grants have been awarded in our fourth annual grant round earmarked for funding of horse and dog shelters, sanctuaries, and rescue facilities. This grant is available thanks to a field-of-interest fund created by the Karen Jean Rudek Trust.
Karen Rudek was a long-time resident of the area who loved her dogs and horses. Working with her estate planner, Karen set up this endowed fund under the Community Foundation of the Lake, where only the interest earned on the principle would be available for an annual grant. She bequeathed her estate to this fund upon her death to support horse and dog care in the local communities of Camden, Miller and Morgan counties. She entrusted stewardship of the fund to the CFL to ensure her long term wishes of animal care were met in perpetuity. The recipients of this generous award are:
• Missouri Forget Me Not Horse Rescue & Sanctuary
• Ivy Bend Animal Rescue
• Caring Hearts Dog & Cat Rescue
• Ozarks Kat & K9 Shelter
This annual grant making round will open again next fall and can be found on the CFL website.
Nov. 7, 2022 — The Community Foundation of the Lake is excited to announce that we received a $1,000 grant from the Osage Beach Walmart. This grant will go towards the annual grant round in January designated to assist our local nonprofits with specific or pressing needs. The CFL and Walmart share the same ambitious commitment to fund opportunities that build the educational, cultural, health and economic development of our community. We are grateful for this continued partnership with Walmart Giving.
