Oct. 23, 2020
October’s Regional Recovery Grants, totaling $100,000, push grantmaking past milestone
With $100,000 in the latest round of monthly COVID-19 Regional Recovery Grants, the Community Foundation of the Ozarks has now granted more than $3 million to agencies responding to and recovering from the pandemic since March.
In addition to discretionary grant programs, this total includes grants from the CFO’s regional affiliate foundations, grants requested by donor-advisors and support from employee benevolence funds. Since March 18, the CFO has made 417 grants to 285 organizations in more than 50 counties across central and southern Missouri, as well as agencies across the country supported by donor-advisors.
“We’re here, in a challenging time, to celebrate that we can help in a time of helplessness,” said Brian Fogle, CFO president and CEO. “We’re grateful to be able to provide resources to so many nonprofits that are doing the very hard and difficult work on the ground.”
The COVID-19 Regional Recovery Grants are intended to help sustain valued nonprofit services and programs through the downturn in fundraising and other financial resources during the pandemic. This grantmaking is open to nonprofit agencies across the CFO’s 58-county service area, which also is served by 51 regional affiliate foundations.
The 10 grants awarded this week, with local affiliate foundations listed in parentheses, include:
- Care to Learn: $20,000 to support health, hunger, and hygiene needs for children in CTL's large rural service area
- CASA of Southwest Missouri: $8,000 to reduce the fundraising shortfall of the CASAblanca event, which supports volunteer training for court-appointed special advocates in Greene and Christian counties
- Center City Christian Outreach: $3,500 to support the Hiland Dairy Milk Program at the Well of Life Food Pantry in Springfield
- Child Advocacy Center: $10,000 to support CAC’s work investigating child abuse through financial support in the wake of cancelled fundraising events
- Children’s Smile Center: $10,000 to support operating expenses as it provides quality dental care for children in Barry, Christian, Dade, Lawrence, Stone and Taney counties (Finley River Community Foundation)
- Community Outreach Ministries of Bolivar: $1,000 to support an upgraded VOIP phone system and better connect with families in need of food pantry services (Bolivar Area Community Foundation)
- Golden Valley Memorial Healthcare: $20,000 for the GVMH COVID-19 Response project supporting patients in the Clinton area (Truman Lake Community Foundation)
- GYN Cancers Alliance: $20,000 to provide nonmedical, emotional, social and financial support to women battling gynecologic cancers in 30 counties across southwest Missouri
- Heart to Heart Outreach Ministries: $2,500 to support overhead expenses at the food pantry in Buffalo (Dallas County Community Foundation)
- Helping Hands – Abuse & Crisis Center of Hickory County: $5,000 to provide emergency shelter and services to victims fleeing domestic or sexual violence (Hickory County Community Wellness Foundation)
These grants follow rounds totaling $300,000 awarded in July, August and September. The COVID-19 Regional Recovery Program is now paused and will reopen in early 2021.
Two region-specific COVID-19 relief grant programs are currently available for agencies in Benton, Camden, Cape Girardeau, Gasconade, Howell, Miller and Morgan counties, funded through an $111,000 gift by Ameren Corporation. More information about the programs can be found at online.
The COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund was established in March with an initial $1 million commitment by the CFO and its regional affiliate foundations, Missouri Foundation for Health and the Coover Charitable Foundation. Generous donors have since contributed more than $850,000 to support this grantmaking. The CFO is committing an additional $1 million to COVID-19 discretionary grantmaking in the 2021 fiscal year with support from MFH, the Coover Charitable Foundation and additional donor support.
The CFO encourages all who are able to donate to a nonprofit in need or the CFO’s COVID-19 fund. Gifts can be made online.
