From The Community Foundation
The Community Foundation awarded a fourth surprise $20,000 grant Jan. 30. To celebrate its’ 20th Anniversary, the foundation promised to give a $20,000 grant to the local arts nonprofit with the best plan in place to change our community for the better.
Foundation board members and staff organized a decoy meeting today at Libertytown Art Works. Board members and volunteers of the Arts and Cultural Council of the Rappahannock were caught completely unaware with a “wine and cheese” art reception surprise party. The foundation commissioned local musicians Larry Hinkle and Andre Eglevsky to compose an original work – a jingle about the arts council performed for the grantees on ukulele and upright bass.
The Community Foundation is producing a video of the surprise grant award to Arts and Cultural Council of the Rappahannock. Look for it at www.cfrrr.org or on our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/CommunityFoundationRRR.
The grant money comes from The Community Fund – an unrestricted fund advised by the foundation’s board of governors to address critical concerns and promising opportunities in our region.
To make today’s grant, the foundation set out to invest in a nonprofit that recognizes the wealth of artistic talent in our region. The winning grantee was expected to increase access to arts and cultural opportunities, enriching residents now and for generations to come.
The Community Foundation invited nonprofits to submit visionary ideas ranging from projects that provide leadership in the development of model programs or that the expand markets for artists and their work. Projects that extend the arts to underserved populations and projects that strive for the highest level of inclusiveness in their audiences, artists, and staffing were also encouraged.
Five applicant organizations were screened, interviewed and deliberated. The Community Foundation’s board of governors voted unanimously at their January meeting to award their fourth Visionary Grant to Arts and Cultural Council of the Rappahannock.
The grant project includes upgrading the existing FredericksburgArts.org website to include a robust directory of artists and events. The Arts and Cultural Council of the Rappahannock’s grant also includes a neighborhood-based arts and music festival, tentatively titled PorchFest.
In honor of its 20th anniversary advancing local philanthropy, The Community Foundation decided to offer a special Visionary Grant cycle distributing a total of $80,000 in four grants – one each in the categories of Environment, Education, Health/Human Services and the Arts.
In September 2017, the foundation awarded $20,000 to Lloyd F. Moss Free Clinic to support a Medical Legal Partnership with Legal Aid Works that will help ensure that low-income people do not face unfair or illegal barriers that effect their health.
In June, Germanna Community College won a $20,000 Education Visionary Grant for their “meta majors” initiative, which accelerates students’ progress to reach meaningful certificate and degree goals, and ultimately the jobs of their choice.
A March 2017 Visionary Grant of $20,000 to Friends of the Rappahannock for a River Report Card on water quality is helping to create an essential tool for building a regional culture of clean water.
“The Community Fund is a wonderful tool for people who want to give in a way that is efficient and effective,” said Teri McNally, Executive Director of The Community Foundation. “These 20th Anniversary Visionary Grants have been a great way to show how The Community Fund is a powerful way to give.”
