The Clinton County Foundation will join more than 750 community foundations across America celebrating Community Foundation Week Nov. 12-18. For more than 25 years, the effort has raised awareness about the increasingly important role of these philanthropic organizations in fostering local collaboration and innovation to address persistent civic and economic challenges.
The Clinton County Foundation will celebrate its 30th anniversary in 2016. There are more than 160 funds, a collection of charities established by Clinton County residents and agencies for a wide variety of benevolent purposes. Among the funds are Little Hearts, Big Smiles, The Wilmington City Schools Foundation, and Outstanding Women. There are more than 50 scholarships.
“Community foundations impact lives, solve problems, and improve futures,” said Jan Blohm, executive director of the Clinton County Foundation. “As many residents grapple with limited resources and a growing need for services, we are more determined than ever to bring our community partners together to find innovative and effective solutions for some of our most challenging social problems.”
Community foundations are independent, public entities that steward philanthropic resources from institutional and individual donors to local nonprofits that are the heart of strong, vibrant communities.
Recently, the Clinton County Foundation has invested in Energize Clinton County fellows program, the Blanchester Senior Citizens Center and the Pioneer Labs project. Among other CCF funds, this has been a good year where they have contributed to water quality research, a Wilmington Splash Park, Blanchester soccer fields, and improving the health of our community through diabetes education.
Community foundations represent one of the fastest-growing forms of philanthropy. Every state in the United States is home to at least one community foundation — large and small, urban and rural — working to advance solutions on a wide range of social issues.
Community Foundation Week, created in 1989 by former president George H.W. Bush, recognizes the work of community foundations throughout America and their collaborative approach to working with the public, private, and nonprofit sectors to address community problems.
