31 Oct Community Foundation Joins Nationwide Celebration to Recognize the Local Impact of Community Foundations
Topeka, KS ─ The McPherson County Community Foundation will join in a nationwide celebration, November 12-18, 2024, to recognize the increasingly important role these philanthropic organizations play in fostering local collaboration and innovation to address persistent civic and economic challenges.
For more than a century, community foundations have served as a trusted partner and resource whose effect can be seen in the lives of millions and in the vibrant neighborhoods that continue to thrive through their mission-driven work. During this time, community foundations come together to share and reflect on the stories of impact over the past year.
The week is now officially recognized as Community Foundation Week by the State of Kansas. Governor Laura Kelly signed the proclamation on Friday, October 25, surrounded by leaders from various community foundations across the state. Among those in attendance was Becky Goss, president and CEO of the McPherson County Community Foundation and a board member of the Kansas Association of Community Foundations.
“The work of community foundations’ spans beyond the practice of giving. There is a tangible impact that can be seen in the lives of those these selfless organizations serve,” said Becky Goss, MCCF President and CEO. “We are more determined than ever to bring our community partners together to find innovative and effective solutions for some of our most challenging social problems and advance the most promising of opportunities to benefit our residents.”
Community foundations are independent, public entities that steward philanthropic resources from institutional and individual donors to local nonprofits and represent one of the fastest-growing forms of philanthropy. This year alone, MCCF has released over $700,000 in grants to local organizations. These grants have been tailored to help fit community priorities established in their Mastermind McPherson County Survey.
Community Foundation Week was created in 1989 by former president George H.W. Bush to recognize the work of community foundations throughout America and their collaborative approach to working with the public, private, and nonprofit sectors to address community problems.