Jan. 8, 2021
Grants support agencies in seven counties of shared service area
The Community Foundation of the Ozarks and the Community Foundation of the Lake have awarded $111,000 to 23 nonprofit agencies affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in seven Missouri counties.
St. Louis-based Ameren Corporation donated the funding for these grants to the CFO’s COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund to support agencies in the shared service area of Ameren and the CFO’s network of 52 regional affiliates. Ameren employees and its board of directors contributed to its AmerenCares Power of Giving COVID-19 Relief Fund, which also is supporting agencies in Illinois and the St. Louis region.
Two “Powered by AmerenCares” grantmaking rounds were held for agencies providing meal programs, transportation, childcare and mental health services related to the COVID-19 pandemic. In the program selected by the CFO’s Affiliate Foundation team, grants were awarded to:
Benton County (served by the Benton County Community Foundation):
- The Changing Table: $1,500
Cape Girardeau County (served by the Cape Area Community Foundation)
- Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southeast Missouri: $5,000
- Cape Girardeau Public School Foundation: $7,500
- Community Partnership of Southeast Missouri: $3,000
- Discovery Playhouse: $7,500
- Humane Society of Southeast Missouri: $5,000
- Safe Families for Children: $2,500
Gasconade County (served by the Community Foundation of the Hermann Area Inc. and the Owensville Area Community Foundation)
- OATS: $5,000
Howell County (served by the Community Foundation of West Plains Inc., the Jacks Fork Community Foundation and the Willow Springs Community Foundation)
- Samaritan Outreach Center: $3,300
- West Plains Senior Center: $10,000
- West Plains Christian Clinic: $7,500
- Willow Springs School District: $5,200
In a separate grantmaking program, the Community Foundation of the Lake awarded $48,000 to 12 nonprofit agencies with funding provided through the Ameren Gives program. The CFL is the CFO’s regional affiliate foundation serving Camden, Miller and Morgan counties in the Lake of the Ozarks area.
- Big Brothers Big Sisters: $3,500 for new matches
- Citizens Against Domestic Violence: $7,500 for mental-health therapy
- The Changing Table: $3,825 for diapers
- Child Advocacy Council: $1,000 for food vouchers
- C.O.P.S. Virtual Connection Calls: $1,000 for online support with licensed professionals
- Food for Morgan County/Neighbors in Need: $5,000 for food, transportation and utilities
- Heros Outreach Program: $1,000 for support for veterans and first responders
- Kids’ Harbor: $5,675 for mental health counseling, games, activities and supplies
- Lake Area Industries: $5,000 for employees with mental disabilities with transportation needs
- Lake of the Ozarks Developmental Center: $5,000 for telecommunication equipment
- OATS Transit: $5,000 for cleaning supplies
- Osage Beach Senior Center: $4,500 for homebound and curbside meals
“This has been a great partnership opportunity with Ameren Corp.,” CFO President Brian Fogle said. “The company put its charitable dollars to work in the communities it serves by using our expertise in managing and granting out these generous resources.”
Ameren Corporation is a Fortune 500 company providing electric power to 2.4 million customers and natural gas service to more than 900,000 customers across 64,000 square miles in Missouri and Illinois. Ameren Missouri and Ameren Transmission Company are both based in St. Louis.
These grants bring the CFO’s total discretionary grantmaking for COVID-19 response and recovery to $2.06 million since March 2020. Total COVID-related grantmaking by the CFO, including grants from donor-advised and employee benevolence funds, is $3.15 million.
