Community Foundation of the Ozarks

The CFO was honored to host Dr. Chris Nicastro, Commissioner of the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, for visits to Rural Schools Partnership projects in Purdy and Aurora on Wednesday, Sept. 1.

Dr. Nicastro came to the Ozarks to learn about the CFO’s rural schools initiatives as well as meet with leaders from Missouri State about alternative-education programs at its West Plains campus. Drury University hosted a dinner to discuss its educational administration curriculum with Dr. Nicastro, who was named the DESE Commissioner a year ago.

“I’m here to learn about the programs you’re working on to strengthen Missouri’s rural schools and communities,” she said.

After a brief overview in Springfield, the first stop was at Purdy High School, which received a $16,000 Coover Place-Based Education grant for its full-service, student-run industrial recycling program that serves both the school and the community.

The project is run by the school’s Spanish class and club, which is advised by teacher Gerry Wass.

“We were a new club and we had a lot of clubs already out fundraising in our community,” he said. “We needed a new idea.

“This recycling project also has the effect of showing some of the flow of money out of our community from trash,” he said.

The group then traveled to Aurora so Dr. Nicastro could see the High School’s award-winning solar-car project. Aurora received a $19,325 grant to purchase additional alternative-energy modules. The students also are studying how to build a LEED-certified, solar-energy Habitat for Humanity home in the community.

“We’ve got some really neat things going on here with some bright kids,” teacher and advisor Brad Boettler said.

The grants are made possible through the Louis L. and Julia Dorothy Coover Charitable Foundation Regional Grantmaking program, a partnership between the Community Foundation of the Ozarks and Commerce Trust Company.

The deadline for the 2011 Coover Place-Based Education grant program is April 11, 2011.

The Community Foundation of the Ozarks announces the opening of its 2010-11 grantmaking process with a series of initiatives aimed at strengthening non-profit service providers and schools across southwest Missouri.

The new grantmaking programs include:

Metropolitan Springfield Red-Flag Response Grants – The Community Foundation will offer $225,000 in challenge grants intended to help support existing programs of Springfield area non-profits that address red-flag issues identified in the 2009 Community Focus Report for Springfield-Greene County.

Coover Regional Poverty Grants – This program will award grants to support new or innovative non-profit programs outside of Springfield-Greene County aimed at fighting rural poverty. These grants are made possible through the Louis L. and Julia Dorothy Coover Charitable Foundation Regional Grantmaking Program, which is a partnership between the CFO and Commerce Trust Company.

Agency Partners Endowment-Building Grants – These grants, offered to the more than 350 non-profit agencies that partner with the Community Foundation, are intended to support efforts to plan, develop and implement endowment-building programs. These can be used for projects such as promotional materials, fundraisers, information/education programs and other awareness efforts.

The Rural Schools Partnership also has three grant cycles now open.

For more information on the CFO’s grantmaking programs, please e-mail Julie Leeth, Executive Vice President, or call her at (417) 864-6199.

• The Leona Mackler Fund was established to support the Foster Grandparent program in Higginsville.  This year, the program will receive $610 to provide transportation for volunteers as well as equipment and material needs.

• The Jerry and Tac Caplan Mid-Life Initiative Fund will provide $1,239.25 for an individual currently living in The Kitchen’s Missouri Hotel.  The Caplans established the fund to provide financial assistance to economically challenged women who want to change their lives through education, specialized training or job skill and presentation needs. The woman will receive restorative dental services and dentures to help improve her job interview and employment opportunities.

• The Helen M. Delano Fund provides financial assistance to uniformed police officers and firefighters who have been injured or killed in the line of duty. If, thankfully, circumstances do not match the criteria during an award year, assistance can be provided for needs created through individual or family illnesses, catastrophic losses through fire or storms or other pressing needs.  This year, the Delano Fund will provide $2,844 to the family of a uniformed police trainer whose finances have been challenged by the costs of a long illness.

The two remaining Field-of-Interest Grants are structured to accept year-round applications, with awards made available for requests to the individual programs as they are received:

• A very generous anonymous donor established the Senior Dreams program to provide individuals under Hospice care a chance to live out their dreams, similar to the “Make a Wish” program.  The wide variety of “Dreams” being granted include providing transportation and equipment for an individual who wanted to go fishing in the Cape Fair area, and a visit to family in the Portland, Ore., area.  The “Dreams” vary both in geography and cost, but the thank-you messages sent by the participants all echo similar sentiments of profound thanks for the opportunity.

• The Ellis Fund was established by a donor in honor of her son, who died of pediatric cancer.  The donor understood the financial hardships placed on a family when faced with a life-threatening diagnosis and wanted to provide assistance for those families in need.  This year, one family has greatly benefited with assistance for the hotel stays required for multiple visits to St. Louis Children’s Hospital for diagnostic tests, treatment and follow-up testing.  A second family was faced with a series of financial hardships as a result of a child’s illness and eventual death. The Ellis Fund provided financial assistance throughout the child’s illness, as well as helping with funeral expenses.