The Community Foundation of South Lake County is celebrating its 25th anniversary of supporting our community by SERVING, CONNECTING & GIVING . Since 1995, the foundation has helped community-minded people reach their philanthropic goals and connected them to the important needs in our community.
To commemorate our 25th anniversary, we are introducing everyone to our new logo that reflects what we represent in our community: a living, breathing, growing foundation. We invest in our local nonprofit organizations addressing the issues and providing the impact to improve as many lives as possible within our community.
“Though the 25th-anniversary celebration was originally planned for April, we pivoted in order to focus on responding to the COVID-19 crisis and the many needs it created in our community,” said Executive Director Kathy Smith. “We launched an emergency fund to support neighbors in need. This grant funding made a huge difference for local nonprofits.”
“July was a record month for the food bank with 2,022 people receiving food,” said Michael Hopewell, director of Well of Hope Food Bank. “Thanks to the generous donations from the Community Foundation of South Lake and their many contributors and partnerships, Well of Hope Food Bank has been able to provide food.
Thank you once again…we could not do this service to the community without your continuous support.”
Being here for our community was the vision of our founders. Though they could not have envisioned Covid-19 back in 1995, founders Mike Conley, George Hovis, Oakley Seaver, and Don Wickham had an idea to start a community foundation that could benefit everyone forever. The structure of a community foundation is formed for perpetuity, to be a granting organization that addresses issues in the community.
Over the past five months, the Community Foundation of South Lake County has released more than $180,000 in grant funding to fifteen local nonprofit organizations caring for those most affected by the pandemic. Our focus has been on food insecurity, rental and utility assistance, and the elderly. How is this investment making a difference?
In the area of food insecurity, we have been able to provide funding for over 140,000 meals to our community. Rental assistance was provided to 60 families, and 8 families were provided with utility assistance. These grants help people be able to stay in their homes.
Our grant to the elderly is helping 63 South Lake seniors with basic needs for the next 6 month.
These times have called for extraordinary measures to provide help to those in need on a higher level than we’ve ever experienced. Our original budget for this year allowed for $76,000 in grant funds to be distributed to our local nonprofit organizations providing important and essential services. By leveraging the existing relationships we have developed with donors. other private foundations and like-minded organizations, we have been able to grant $186,000 into our community, thus far. In addition, our regular grant cycle has just opened, and we are planning on distributing another $69,000 in grants by the end of September.
Simply put, we have been able to triple the grant monies originally budgeted during a time of cutbacks and uncertainty. By partnering with us, our donors and supporters have helped make this assistance a reality. Without our donors, we are not able to grow and thrive so that when times like these occur, we have the resources to provide to our community. THANK YOU!
