Please read below a personal message from Ken Hunstman, Community Foundation board member and chair of the Community Investment Funds grant cycle for many years. With his guidance, we awarded more than $250,000 to 29 nonprofits in 2018 through these grants. As part of the Community Foundation’s response to its creed of “Growing philanthropy to respond to critical need and seed innovation in the region,” the Community Investment Funds seek to find those organizations in our communities that are addressing critical needs and give them a boost.
The Community Foundation has been making these annual grants for many years now, and has helped numerous organizations start new programs, extend existing programs, reach more people, provide more in-depth services, or help them help others in a myriad of ways. See the 2018 grantees for example.
Almost immediately upon joining the board, and being asked to be part of this committee, I accepted the invitation in part as a way of helping give back to our community where my wife and I have raised our family. It quickly helped me realize how and where there is so much need in a region that is so prosperous.
When my predecessor became Chairman of the Board, I was more than willing to become the new committee chair. I had seen first-hand the impact our decisions make on these local organizations and the programs they offer to our fellow community members. I’ve seen the dedication members of the committee put forth researching the organizations and the difficult task of deciding who is most worthy of our investment. It is always agonizing to have to decide that we don’t have sufficient funds to support very deserving programs and populations.
Once again, in my final year on the board, I am proud to chair the Community Investment Funds committee, as we seek to find the best ways to deploy our limited resources to best serve our community at large through our partners. I welcome anyone reading this to consider joining me and our committee in this worthy endeavor.
Questions?
