Community Foundation of the Ozarks

The staff at CFO spent an hour Tuesday morning celebrating Earth Day planting plants in the building’s new rain garden. The James River Basin Partnership, the City of Springfield Storm Water Department, and the Missouri Department of Conservation partnered with CFO to create the rain garden.

Runoff water from storms leads to flooding and erosion downstream and also carries pollutants that degrade water quality. Rain gardens are shallow depressions filled with native plants that catch the torrents of storm water. The native plants with their deep roots work to filter pollutants and recharge the groundwater aquifer, making runoff water a resource rather than a downstream problem.

With funding through a grant from Community Foundation of the Ozarks, the James River Basin Partnership has planted several demonstrative rain gardens. The gardens are part of a larger project to increase public awareness of water pollution issues. These efforts encourage environmental stewardship on a personal, house-to-house level.

Feel free to stop by CFO at 425 E. Trafficway to learn more about rain gardens and to check out downtown’s latest “green” feature. More pictures below the fold.
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CFO to host “How do you build a Successful Health Foundation?” presentation

On Tuesday, March 25 at 10:00 a.m. CFO will host a web-based teleconference titled “How do you build a Successful Health Foundation?” presented by Robin Morgan, director, Ozarks Medical Center Foundation.

The Ozarks Medical Center Foundation supports Ozarks Medical Center health care system, ensuring a place close to home to meet all medical needs. OMC Foundation helps OMC to help you.

The not-for-profit organization was established in 1998 to further the work of the medical center. Governed by a local board of directors, the OMC Foundation seeks and accepts charitable contributions from individuals, businesses and corporations, and other foundations to assist OMC in providing excellent health care to the communities we serve

Please join us for what promises to be an insightful and informative presentation.

To sign up, please contact Bridget Dierks at bdierks@cfozarks.org or (417) 864-6199.

A complete schedule of CFO’s Essential Questions series is available on the web at http://www.cfozarks.org/essential-questions-series/. Instructions for participation and past presentations are available there as well.

Community Foundation of the Ozarks presented grants totaling $175,000 to 15 community agencies today through its Metropolitan Springfield Grantmaking Program. This grant round was extremely competitive. CFO received 31 applications representing more than $500,000 in requests.

Ranging from $1,800 to $35,000, the grants focused on the areas of education and community development. $158,510 went to projects focusing on education and $16,490 to community development projects. Of the total awarded, $168,530 went to projects that are part of the Foundation-led Grantmaker’s Challenge for Children five-year initiative that directly address the challenges facing youth as identified in the Community Focus report. For a complete list of recipients and a brief description of each project funded, click on the “read more” link. (more…)