Community Foundation of the Ozarks

Every Friday, we share the news of new groups and individuals choosing to make philanthropic gifts and investments in their community. You can read more about types of funds available at CFO here. Click here for a full list of non-profit Agency Partners. For more information on fund types and how to get involved, contact Winter Skelton at wskelton@cfozarks.org.

Jerry and Sharon Berkstresser Fund – Becky Berkstresser Brill established this family and community fund to honor her parents and help simplify her charitable giving. This is a component fund of the Community Foundation of Southwest Missouri.

Dignity Now Endowment Fund – This is a fund which support the long terms needs of Dignity Now. It is a component fund of the Community Foundation of Taney County and is a new Agency Partner in the social services category.

O’Day Family Mausoleum Maintenance Fund – John Baldwin O’Day has established this fund which will distribute to the City of Springfield for the public beautification and historic preservation of the O’Day Family Mausoleum located in Hazelwood Cemetery. Should the available to spend be more than the City of Springfield needs for this task, the remaining available amount will granted to Ozark Greenways for the maintenance and improvement of the greenway trail network in Springfield-Greene County.

Ozark Actors Theatre Endowment Fund – This fund will support the long term sustainability of the local theatre in Rolla, Mo. It is a component fund of the Meramec Regional Community Foundation, and is a new Agency Partner in the arts category.

Skyline R-II Youth Empowerment Fund – This fund will support youth programming. This is a component fund of the Douglas County Community Foundation.

The Rare Breed Youth Outreach Center, a drop-in center for at-risk youth run by The Kitchen, Inc., has selected a new, larger building to better serve those who use the center to reduce the amount of time they have to spend without permanent shelter each day.

The new location at 301 N. Main Ave. is several blocks west of its current site at 215 S. Campbell Ave.

The new building was purchased through the Community Foundation of the Ozarks’ Mission-Related Investment program. This initiative offers below-market rate investments for projects that create a “double-bottom line” of both financial and social returns for Ozarks communities, instead of investing assets solely in financial markets.

The CFO will own the building with The Kitchen having options to purchase throughout the 15-year term at a decreasing amount.

A neighborhood meeting is scheduled from 4-6 p.m., Wednesday, Jan. 4, at the current Campbell Avenue location, in preparation for a rezoning request to go before the Springfield Planning and Zoning Commission later in January. The building on North Main is currently zoned for Heavy Manufacturing and the new zoning would be the less intense use of Center City. (more…)

CFO is excited to host its second quarterly Agency Partner education session on  Tuesday, Jan. 10 from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. in the CFO Community Room, 425 E. Trafficway.  Please join us for this helpful, free session for our nonprofit agency partners.

We have a very special program this quarter, which will focus on disaster preparedness and response. In the wake of the Joplin tornado, nonprofits in our region have become more aware of their plans (or lack of plans) in case of a disaster. We are bringing a panel of experts to this quarterly session to discuss with you the ways you can become more prepared for the unknown as an organization.

Our panel will consist of the following individuals:

Erin Coryell – Program Officer, Midwest Disaster Preparedness, Response, and Recovery for the Margaret A. Cargill Foundation based in Eden Prairie, Minn.;

Don Greenlee - Program Director of the Big Brothers, Big Sisters of Jasper and Newton Counties (Joplin); 

Tim Connell – Commercial Insurance Consultant at Connell Insurance, Inc.; and

Ryan Nicholls - Director of the Springfield-Greene County Office of Emergency Management.

This panel will be moderated by Tiffany Applegate of X-Factor Consulting. Each panelist will discuss his or her area of expertise, and there will be time for questions at the end. If you have a specific question you would like Applegate to ask the panel and would like to submit that question in advance, please send it to bdierks@cfozarks.org.

Parking for this session is available in the garage across the street from our office or in the CFO lot behind our building.

Please RSVP to Bridget Dierks at bdierks@cfozarks.org or directly to voicemail at (417) 447-5360.  Space is limited, so RSVP soon to ensure your seat in this informative and helpful session.