Dec. 14, 2023
OTC Foundation, Boys & Girls Clubs of Springfield receive special $100,000 grants
In partnership with the Jeannette L. Musgrave Foundation and U.S. Bank Private Wealth Management, the Community Foundation of the Ozarks granted $580,000 today to 47 nonprofits through several programs. The grants, presented at Council of Churches of the Ozarks, continue a 40-year legacy of support for Springfield-area causes established by the late Mrs. Musgrave.
OTC Foundation received $100,000 to support the new Wingspan Initiative at Ozarks Technical Community College. The program will support single parents, primarily single mothers, with funding for living expenses during their time as full-time students at OTC. The program’s primary goals are to support parents financially beyond tuition assistance, allowing for up to $10,000 a year for life expenses that would impede the parent’s ability to graduate on schedule. This grant launches the Wingspan Initiative, which has the potential to receive an additional $200,000 from the Musgrave Foundation over the course of three years.
Amy Bacon, executive director of the OTC Foundation, describes the new Wingspan Initiative for OTC students who are single parents.
Boys & Girls Clubs of Springfield received $100,000 to support the Risdal Family Center for Great Futures, its new facility for middle and high school students. The center will be built at 810 W. Catalpa St., just north of Parkview High School’s JFK Stadium. The Risdal Family Center is expected to open in early 2025.
Community Partnership of the Ozarks received the final $30,000 installment of a three-year commitment to support operating expenses for the O’Reilly Center for Hope, CPO’s community hub for homeless and affordable housing services in north Springfield.
The 2023 Jerry Redfern Grants are named in memory of the Musgrave Foundation’s longtime manager. The grants, totaling $200,000, will support operating expenses for the following nonprofits:
- American Red Cross: $5,000
- Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Ozarks: $5,000
- Boys & Girls Clubs of Springfield: $5,000
- Care to Learn: $5,000
- CASA of Southwest Missouri: $5,000
- Cents of Pride: $5,000
- Child Advocacy Center: $5,000
- City of Springfield/Mayor’s Commission for Children: $5,000
- Council of Churches of the Ozarks/Diaper Bank of the Ozarks: $5,000
- Doula Foundation of Mid America: $5,000
- Drew Lewis Foundation Inc.: $5,000
- East Grand Community Services: $5,000
- FosterAdopt Connect Springfield/YouthConnect crisis cold weather shelter: $2,500
- Foundation for Springfield Public Schools: $5,000
- Friends of the Garden: $5,000
- GLO Center: $5,000
- Grace United Methodist Church: $5,000
- Habitat for Humanity of Springfield, Missouri Inc.: $5,000
- Harmony House: $5,000
- Help Give Hope: $5,000
- Isabel’s House: $5,000
- Junior Achievement in Southwest Missouri: $5,000
- Least Of These Inc.: $5,000
- Lost and Found Grief Center: $5,000
- Missouri State University/KSMU: $5,000
- National Avenue Christian Church/The Fairbanks crisis cold weather shelter: $2,500
- Newborns In Need: $5,000
- Ozark Trails Council, BSA: $5,000
- Ozarks Food Harvest: $5,000
- Ozarks Literacy Council: $5,000
- PFLAG Springfield: $5,000
- Springfield Community Gardens: $5,000
- Springfield Public Schools: $5,000
- Springfield Regional Arts Council: $5,000
- Springfield Sister Cities Association: $5,000
- The Gathering Tree Inc.: $5,000
- The Kitchen Inc.: $5,000
- The Salvation Army: $5,000
- Victim Center Inc.: $5,000
- Vision Rehabilitation Center of the Ozarks: $5,000
- Women’s Medical Respite: $5,000
Health care education is a specific grantmaking priority of the Musgrave Foundation. For the 2023 University Nursing Scholarship program, five institutions each received $30,000 to provide scholarships to students in the nursing education path:
- Cox College
- Drury University
- OTC Foundation
- Missouri State University Foundation
- Southwest Baptist University
“For the last 40 years, the Musgrave Foundation’s grantmaking has created brighter futures for so many in Springfield and southwest Missouri,” said Bridget Dierks, vice president of programs for the CFO. “We’re grateful to carry on Mrs. Musgrave’s charitable legacy well into the future.”
The Musgrave grantmaking committee is chaired by Rob Baird and includes Emily Bowen-Marler, Thomas J. Carlson, Ferba Lofton, Danny Perches, Peggy Riggs and Thomas Slaight, with support from CFO staff members Bridget Dierks and Ashley Fleming.
The Jeannette L. Musgrave Foundation is a private charitable foundation managed by U.S. Bank Wealth Management and administered by the CFO. Since 1983, the Musgrave Foundation has granted more than $20 million to nonprofits in Springfield and southwest Missouri.
