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Local Nonprofits Receive 2023 Funding from The Community Foundation

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Local Nonprofits Receive Funding from The Community Foundation

Harrisonburg, VA – Giving season is upon us and The Community Foundation of Harrisonburg and Rockingham County is celebrating. The Community Foundation reports a total of $159,518 will be granted to twelve organizations in their Fall 2023 grants cycle. Programs and projects like ‘Meals on Wheels’ by Valley Program for Aging Services and ‘Operation Free Pet Healthcare’ by Anicira are among the funded grantees. Over 60 organizations submitted applications. “Our grant funding process is difficult, especially because we receive so many wonderful applications each year. All are deserving of funding. We encourage nonprofits to apply for our grants next year as our grant awards will increase substantially.” – Ann Siciliano, Director of Program Services, TCFHR. Fall 2023 grant awards will be distributed to Harrisonburg-Rockingham nonprofit agencies by year end.

2023 TCFHR Competitive Grant Awards:

Fund Grantee Purpose/Project
Community Endowment Valley Program for Aging Services Meals on Wheels
Valley Arts & Culture Fund Oasis Fine Art & Craft Beyond Restaurant Mural
Valley Arts & Culture Fund Rockingham Ballet Theatre Costume Storage Improvement
Janet Sohn Endowed Fund The Salvation Army The Salvation Army Emergency Shelter
Mary Spitzer Etter Endowed Fund Arts Council of the Valley Development of New Arts Council of the Valley Website
Alvin J. Baird, Jr. Program Endowed Fund Blue Ridge Free Clinic, Inc. A Free Clinic Bridge to Health
Alvin J. Baird, Jr. Program Endowed Fund Cross Keys Equine Therapy Parent/Grandparent Caregiver Trauma Group
Earlynn J. Miller Fund for the Arts Arts Council of the Valley ACT ONE
Earlynn J. Miller Fund for the Arts OASIS Fine Art & Craft `Wild and Wonderful – Animals “Captured” in Paint!
Earlynn J. Miller Fund for the Arts Virginia Quilt Museum Creating a multi-purpose space for hands-on learning and programs
Earlynn J. Miller Fund for the Arts Harrisonburg Dance Cooperative Sprung Subfloor
Hildred Neff Memorial Fund Wildlife Center of Virginia Treatment of Sick, Injured, and Orphaned Wildlife from Harrisonburg and Rockingham County
Hildred Neff Memorial Fund Cat’s Cradle Pet Retention for Low-Income and Other Vulnerable Populations
Hildred Neff Memorial Fund Anicira Operation Free Pet Healthcare

Grant distributions come from funds held at TCFHR and are determined by Grants committees. Nonprofit organizations awarded all participated in a competitive application process. Per TCFHR policy, grants are made without regard to factors of gender, race, religion, national origin, or sexual orientation. For more information, visit TCFHR’s website, www.tcfhr.org.

Contact: Ann Siciliano, 540-432-3863 or ann@tcfhr.org

Website: www.tcfhr.org

About The Community Foundation of Harrisonburg & Rockingham County (TCFHR) 

TCFHR makes charitable giving easy, acting in the best interest of our donors and partners to facilitate bold philanthropic initiatives for a stronger, healthier community.

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Local Nonprofits Receive Funding from The Community Foundation

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Harrisonburg, VA – It feels like Christmas over at The Community Foundation of Harrisonburg  and Rockingham County (TCFHR)! No, it is not quite time for the holiday, but TCFHR is in the giving spirit since they are soon issuing Fall 2022 grants to nonprofit organizations. This year’s grants total $152,235 to 13 local nonprofits, more than TCFHR has given out in years past. The largest distribution ($55,000) coming from the Earlynn J. Miller Fund for the Arts. Dr. Earlynn J. Miller was honored posthumously at AFP Shenandoah’s National Philanthropy Day for her contributions at JMU as well as her generously giving approximately $5 million to establish three endowments at The Community Foundation that will support the arts forever.

The monies will go to organizations addressing needs in:
Animal welfare (Anicira, Cat’s Cradle, and Wildlife Center of VA) made by Hildred Neff Memorial Fund
Arts & Culture (Arts Council of the Valley) made by Mary Spitzer Etter Endowed Fund, (OASIS Fine Art & Craft) made by Valley Arts & Culture Fund, and (Arts Council of the Valley and Harrisonburg Dance Cooperative) made by Earlynn J. Miller Fund for the Arts
Children and Youth of Divorced Parents (Family Life Resource Center) made by Sean Warner Memorial Fund
Healthcare (Adagio House, Blue Ridge Free Clinic, and Strength in Peers) made by Alvin V. Baird, Jr. Program Housing (Central Valley Habitat for Humanity) made by Janet Sohn Endowed Fund
Greatest benefit to Harrisonburg and Rockingham County (Blue Ridge CASA and First Step) made by The Community Endowment Fund

Grant distributions come from funds held at TCFHR and are determined by Grants committees. Nonprofit organizations awarded all participated in a competitive application process. Per TCFHR policy, grants are made without regard to factors of gender, race, religion, national origin, or sexual orientation. For more information, contact Ann Siciliano at ann@tcfhr.org.

 

Read more about Community Foundation grant awards.

Great Community Give 2023 Nonprofit Registration Opens Today!

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Great Community Give 2023 Nonprofit Registration

Will Launch on National Philanthropy Day

Great Community Give (GCG) is back for its sixth year! The GCG Planning Team will open registration for interested nonprofits on National Philanthropy Day, November 15th.

Returning and newly participating nonprofit agencies can sign up for GCG 2023 at www.greatcommunitygive.org. Registration will remain open until February 15, 2023. Eligibility requirements include having IRS 501(c)(3) tax status and located in and serving Harrisonburg and Rockingham County.

Great Community Give is an initiative hosted by The Community Foundation of Harrisonburg and Rockingham County (TCFHR), raising millions for area nonprofits since its beginning in 2018. The annual, sunrise to sunset, giving day event champions local causes by inspiring charitable giving to Harrisonburg-Rockingham nonprofit organizations. In April 2022, over 7,000 donors raised $1,727,289 for 125 organizations, bringing the initiative’s overall grand total to $5,117,703.

Nonprofits have big plans for this upcoming GCG, including Valley Associates for Independent Living. According to their Executive Director, Gayl Brunk, GCG 2023 donations will support the recently acquired, nationally ranked, Cardinals Wheelchair Basketball Team.

Amanda Bomfim, Program Officer at TCFHR is committed to making the 6th year a success. “Our team wants to be bold in our support of the nonprofits. Our GCG 2023 goals are to raise $2 million and to reach 8,000 donors. I am motivated to reach more community members in the sixth GCG especially since it will be easier to give. Donors may now contribute to their favorite organizations using the mobile payment service, Venmo.”

Great Community Give will be on the third Wednesday of April on April 19, 2023, 6:30am to 8:00pm. For questions about Great Community Give, contact TCFHR at 540-432-3863.

Letter to the Washington Post

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Last week, the Washington Post published a misinformed article about donor-advised funds. The Council on Foundations, with support of community foundations, immediately responded by penning a letter to the editor. The full text of the letter is below.

We hope the Post will consider publishing this letter, but in the meantime we wish to share it with you.

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To the Editor:

Tuesday’s article on donor-advised funds (DAFs) (“Wall Street is sitting on billions meant for American charities,” June 21) provides a laundry list of damaging and inaccurate assertions about DAFs, specifically those created by financial institutions. Community foundations, leading stewards of positive change at the local level, also sponsor DAFs which offer the benefit of being an efficient and less administratively burdensome option for many donors who want to establish philanthropic vehicles.

When donors create DAFs at community foundations, they ensure support for nonprofits and leverage the foundation’s programs, collective giving efforts, and civic leadership to further advance local causes. They are able to address immediate needs and, importantly, long-term efforts.

For more than 100 years, community foundations have partnered with philanthropists to support communities. This includes helping donors identify their giving goals and strategy. DAFs factor into these conversations because of their many benefits. For example, DAFs:

  • Provide flexibility. DAFs allow community foundations to quickly respond to local needs including emergency response efforts.
  • Democratize giving. DAFs require modest financial contributions, making them within the reach of most charitable givers.
  • Connect donors to purpose. DAFs empower individuals to support long-term solutions for tough community issues with the benefit of guidance from professionals.

The real threat to charitable giving is not DAFs but one-sided, mischaracterizations of an important philanthropic vehicle that encourages civic engagement.

Rather than narrowing the breadth of tools available, we should focus on expanding and protecting giving options that help citizens to advance the common good in their communities.

Vikki Spruill, Javier Soto, Randall Royster
Tony Mestres, Hazle Hamilton, Richard Ober
Steve Seleznow, Lorie A. Slutsky, Debbie Wilkerson, Revlan Hill

Ms. Spruill is president and chief executive officer of the Council on Foundations.

Mr. Soto is vice chair of the Council on Foundations’ board of directors and president and chief executive officer of The Miami Foundation.

Mr. Royster is a Council on Foundations’ board of directors member and current past president of the Community Foundations National Standards Board and president and chief executive officer of the Albuquerque Community Foundation.

Mr. Mestres is a Council on Foundations’ board of directors member and president and chief executive officer of The Seattle Foundation.

Ms. Hamilton is president of the Community Foundations National Standards Board and executive vice president of the Community Foundation of Central Georgia.

Mr. Ober is president and chief executive officer of the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation.

Mr. Seleznow is president and chief executive officer of the Arizona Community Foundation.

Ms. Slutsky is president of the New York Community Trust.

Ms. Wilkerson is president and chief executive officer of the Greater Kansas City Community Foundation.

Ms. Revlan Hill is president and chief executive officer of the Community Foundation of Harrisonburg and Rockingham County