Carthage Community Foundation
Contact Information
221 W. 4th St., Suite 11
Carthage, MO 64836
(417) 359-5534
Established May 24, 1999
Board of Directors:
Don LaFerla, President • Stan Schmidt, Vice-President • Travis Almandinger • Chuck Bryant • Kevin Checkett • Frank Dunaway • Carolyn Phelps • Lee Pound • Miriam Putnam • Danny Ross • Patrick Scott • Jim Woestman
Advisory Board Members: Bill Lee • Bill Putnam
For additional information, e-mail carmocf@sbcglobal.net or call President Don LaFerla at (417) 850-8156
Total Assets (as of 3/31/13): $6,296,406
Click here to fill out the Carthage Community Foundation grant application online
Click here to read the Carthage Community Foundation grant application policies
Vivian Leon Fund for the Musical Arts
The Vivian Leon Fund for the Musical Arts was established by the Missouri Southern International Piano Competition to honor Mrs. Vivian Leon, the longtime director of MSIPC. The goal of the fund is to encourage and assist in the presentation of classical music with an emphasis on piano performance. Eligible applicants are 501(c)3 not-for-profit organizations, schools and colleges that offer classical music programs with an emphasis on piano performance to the community and schools in Jasper and Newton Counties.
Click here to go to an online application for the Vivian Leon Fund for the Musical Arts Grant
News and Updates
CCF Makes an Impact in Return to Carthage-Centric Mission
The Carthage Community Foundation awarded more than a dozen community grants during the 2012 fiscal year, including $1,500 to Children’s Haven for the Reaching Carthage Kids program. The grant funding was made possible through The Hough Fund and the J. Ross and Maryetta E. White Memorial Fund.
Carthage Community Foundation Reborn
The Carthage Community Foundation has been reborn – 13 years after originally becoming one of the CFO’s first regional affiliates.
The original Carthage Community Foundation, founded in 1999, expanded in 2006, incorporating as the Community Foundation of Southwest Missouri, Inc., to serve a four-county area of Jasper, Newton, Barton and McDonald counties.
With the development of philanthropic resources in the CFSWMO region in the succeeding years, particularly in the Joplin area, CFSWMO is changing its name back to Carthage Community Foundation and a new affiliate has been established to serve the Joplin area. The new affiliate will retain the CFSWMO name for the present.
Don LaFerla will serve as president of the CCF’s Board of Directors. Other board members include: Kevin Checkett, Frank Dunaway, Bill Putnam, and Stan Schmidt, who are four of the original founders; former CFSWMO board members LaFerla, Bill Lee, Carolyn Phelps, Lee Pound, and Miriam Putnam; and new recruits Chuck Bryant, Patrick Scott, and Jim Woestman.
“The initial expansion of Carthage to encompass a broader section of our region has fulfilled its purpose,” said Putnam, who previously served six years on the board and four years as volunteer Executive Director of CFSWMO. “Joplin is now well on its way to developing its own philanthropic assets and we think each area will be better served with a more direct focus on its own needs and goals.”
The Community Foundation of Southwest Missouri will continue to serve Joplin, and the smaller communities in the immediate area. Stephanie Howard is the new Chair of the CFSWMO.
Michelle Ducre, the CFO’s staff associate based in Joplin, will transition from serving as Executive Director for CFSWMO to Regional Development Director serving all of the affiliates in the southwest region of the CFO’s service area – CFSWMO, Sarcoxie, Neosho and Carthage.
Funds and Grantmaking
Existing Funds:
ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis) Organization Fund
Beimdiek Challenge Grant Fund
George and Geraldine Beimdiek Memorial Fund
Steve and Mary Jean Beimdiek Family and Community Fund
Carthage Arts Council Fund
City of Carthage Beautification Fund
Carthage Area United Way Legacy Fund
The Carthage Crosslines Fund
Carthage Historic Preservation Society Capacity Building Fund
Carthage Library Development Foundation Endowment Fund
Carthage Community Foundation Operating Endowment Fund
Carthage Rotary Scholarship
Carthage Rotary Club Charitable Fund
The Carthage Fund
Carthage Youth Empowerment Project Fund
Carthage Crisis Center, Inc. Capacity Building Fund
Carthage Crisis Center Endowment Fund
Carthage Crisis Center, Inc. Repair and Replacement Fund
Carthage CF Capacity Building Fund
Colossians 3:17 Fund
The W. Robert Corley Fund
Carthage Public Library Fund
Curtis Rex Carter Science Scholarship Fund
Doris & Ken Johnson Memorial Fund
Earl & Marilyn Nicholas Charitable Fund
Episcopal Youth Group of Carthage Endowment Fund
Fair Acres Family YMCA, Inc. Fund
Freund Charitable Remainder Trust Fund
Gregg and Sheila Galbraith Donor Advised Fund
Guthrie Gilmore Fund
Grace Episcopal Church Endowment Fund
Hall of Carthage Heroes Fund
Richard T. Mansfield Memorial Fund, a capacity building fund for Grace Episcopal Church
The Henrietta Hedge Memorial Fund
Carthage Historic Preservation Fund
The Hough Fund
Quigley Jasper County Christian Athlete Scholarship Fund
Jasper County Courthouse Capacity Building Fund
Jasper County 1895 Courthouse Preservation Fund
Leggett & Platt, Incorporated Donor Advised Fund
Leggett & Platt, Incorporated Benevolence Fund
L & P Partners Helping Partners Fund
McCune-Brooks Health Care Foundation Fund
Missouri Botanical Garden Fund
Dorthadean Moorman Memorial Fund
Jean S. Morrow and Samuel R. Morrow Jr. Memorial Fund
MSIPC Capacity Building Fund
Earl & Marilyn Nicholas Endowment Fund
The John O. Phelps and Carolyn B. Phelps Charitable Fund
J. Ross and Maryetta E. White Memorial Fund
Dr. W. Russell Smith Family Foundation Fund
St. Luke’s Nursing Center Capacity Building Fund
St. Luke’s Nursing Center Endowment Fund
Patrick and Julia Scott Family and Community Fund
Stone’s Throw Theater Henry Heckert Memorial Endowment Fund
Southwest Baptist University Endowment Fund
The Vivian Leon Fund for the Musical Arts created by the Missouri Southern International Piano Comp.
Mark and Stephanie Williams Family and Community Fund
Legacy Society Members:
Kevin & Sandi Checkett
Robert & Rebecca Copeland
Frank S. Dunaway, III
Virginia Esterly*
Ed & Tonya Freund Trust
Kenneth Johnson
Don & Gloria LaFerla
Samuel R. Morrow, Jr.*
Marilyn R. Nicholas*
Mr. & Mrs. William C. Putnam
Ruth I. Rubison
Dr.* and Mrs.* W. Russell Smith
Community Grants for Fiscal Year 2012:
Tornado damage assistance, $68,962
Fair Acres Family YMCA, Inc., $2,500
Carthage Crisis Center, $1,294
Carthage Humane Society, $1,250
Carthage R-9 School Foundation, $1,850
Carthage Council on the Arts, $2,000
Magic Moments Riding Therapy, Inc., $500
City of Carthage, Powers Museum digitization project, $1,000
Salvation Army-Carthage, Youth Alive Program, $1,350
Central Park Garden upgrade, $2,119
Carthage Area United Way, $520
Children’s Haven of Southwest Missouri, $1,500
Jasper County Youth Fair, Inc., $2,500
St. Mary’s Catholic Elementary School, $3,000