Cerro Gordo County – During the week of November 12-18, 2013, the Cerro Gordo County Community Foundation (CGCCF) will join more than 750 community foundations across America for the 14th Annual Community Foundation Week to tell the stories of lives changed, jobs created, and communities transformed through philanthropy’s partnership with private and public community leaders and organizations.
“The Cerro Gordo County Community Foundation works to help address the most pressing issues facing our community, including health care and education. As we all saw with the recent government shutdown, philanthropy provides a critical protection against uncertainty,” said Casey Callanan, Chair of the CGCCF.
Community foundations are independent, public entities that steward philanthropic resources from institutional and individual donors to local nonprofits that are the heart of strong, vibrant communities. The CGCCF has given grants to such groups as Habitat for Humanity of North Iowa, Francis Lauer Youth Services, The North Iowa Community Kitchen, and The Music Man Square. Because this is a county organization, financial aid is distributed countywide.
Community foundations represent one of the fastest-growing forms of philanthropy. Every state in the United States is home to at least one community foundation—large and small, urban and rural—that is advancing solutions to a wide range of social issues. The 2012 Columbus Survey found that as the nation continues through a difficult economic recovery, grants by community foundations increased by 21% since 2006.
Launched in 1989 through a proclamation by former president George H.W. Bush, the first Community Foundation Week included a congressional briefing about the work of community foundations throughout America and their collaborative approach to working with the public, private, and nonprofit sectors to address community problems.
