Community Foundation of the Ozarks

The Community Foundation of the Ozarks made the first awards in a new Metro Springfield grant round on Tuesday, Nov. 22, with $50,000 going to six agencies working on early childhood issues.

These grant awards are for programs that address the “red flags” related to early childhood issues identified in the Community Focus Report for Springfield-Greene County. Representatives from each of the six agencies will make brief remarks about the work they are doing to improve the health, safety and school readiness of young children in Springfield-Greene County.

The grants will be awarded to:

• Foundation for Springfield Public Schools: $8,500 to support a partnership between the Parents as Teachers program and the Springfield Chapter of the NAACP.
• Friends of Operation US: $5,000 for materials to provide expectant parents with foundational skills for childrearing.
• United Way of the Ozarks: $8,500 for materials to support the Downtown Family Circuit treks.
• Community Partnership of the Ozarks: $10,500 to implement a class-assessment tool to promote better teacher-child interactions.
• Lighthouse Child and Family Development Center: $8,750 to implement its resiliency project to improve social and emotional support for families with children from birth to age five.
• SafeHaven of the Ozarks: $8,750 for materials and space to provide counseling and life skills to children placed in foster care due to abuse or neglect.

“So many of the red-flag issues identified throughout the Community Focus report could be improved by giving our kids the best possible start in life and preparing them as well as possible to succeed in school,” CFO President Brian Fogle said. “We wanted to emphasize this with a specific grant round this year focused on early childhood development.”

For more information on the CFO’s grantmaking programs, visit: www.cfozarks.org/grants.

The Springfield-Greene County Park Board joined the Springfield Downtown Kiwanis Club to break ground today on a new playground at Jenny Lincoln Park that will offer accessible equipment for those with all levels of ability.

The Kiwanis Club conceived the idea of the accessible playground and partnered with the Park Board to locate it at the 9.3-acre park in downtown Springfield. The club raised $100,000 for construction of the park, which included a $10,000 matching grant from the CFO’s 2010 Metro Springfield Red-Flag Response grant cycle.

“This was a long journey and we worked hard to get here,” said Pat Dierking, President of the Downtown Kiwanis club. The group worked with the Southwest Center for Independent Living for guidance and resources to design the playground effectively for all abilities.

“It is another community-led initiative that makes this a community affair,” Greene County Associate Commissioner Harold Bengsch said. “That’s what our Parks system is known for.”

Park Board Chair Jerry Clark said the project is near and dear to her heart because her late husband was a Kiwanis member. She also credited Parks Director Jodie Adams, who celebrated the groundbreaking as one of her last official events before she retires after more than 30 years in the Parks system on Thursday.

MGACF board members and grant recipients at the banquet.

The Mountain Grove Area Community Foundation awarded $10,000 in grants to nine community groups at its first-ever Boot Scootin’ Benefit at the Downtown Event Center on Saturday, Nov. 5.

The Foundation has been re-invigorated in recent months with the addition of more board members who organized Saturday’s event, which included entertainment by the STARS Foundation band, and singer Jason Plummer; a chuck wagon style steak dinner, a silent auction and awards for the Biggest Buckle, Ugliest Boots and Best Hat.

Guest speaker Carol Silvey, the CFO’s senior associate for advancement, congratulated the Mountain Grove board on its renewed activity.

“Philanthropy is not about people giving millions of dollars,” she said. “It’s about a lot of people giving $10, $25, or $2. It all gets put into a big pot and adds up.”

These groups received the grant awards at the banquet:
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