Foundation News cfrrr.org 540.373.9292
Newsletter Spring/Summer 2020
The Community Foundation of the Rappahannock River Region
The Community Foundation offers a way to help: the Community Relief Fund. This fund is an essential resource for our region and everyone can help.
Entrusted to Lead
The coronavirus pandemic has touched every part of our community. But people don’t come together – to learn, to help, to give – without leadership. The Community Foundation is proud to be entrusted with leading a path forward. Our goal is a thriving, resilient and even stronger Rappahannock River region. We will achieve this by assessing local needs, convening generous people and delivering efficient and effective grants to the hardworking nonprofit organizations protecting our community. The Community Foundation stands with everyone affected by the coronavirus pandemic: people who are ill, people who are grieving, people facing economic uncertainty and everyone facing profound disruptions to our way of life. We are grateful to every individual, business and organization rising to the challenge and meeting our community’s needs at this difficult time. Area nonprofit organizations are a vital and necessary protection for many of our most intensely affected fellow citizens. Because of the pandemic, local nonprofits are stretched to their limits supporting community needs. With remarkable resourcefulness, nonprofits are adapting all kinds of services to an online or
telehealth model. We are seeing this particularly among mental health and healthcare providers for those at high risk of contracting and suffering from COVID-19. Many nonprofits provide such basic resources as emergency food, supplies and housing. Many of the organizations that provide for basic needs report increasing requests for help even as their fundraising events have been cancelled. Moreover, the impact of the pandemic is the greatest for our community’s most vulnerable and underserved people.
The Community Foundation offers a way to help: the Community Relief Fund. This fund is an essential resource for our region and everyone can help. The Community Foundation is honored to be your trusted source of knowledge about regional issues and impactful philanthropy. Through the Community Relief Fund, we leverage 20-plus years of experience to provide funding – rapidly and effectively – to nonprofits that need it most.
2
Foundation News
Spring/Summer 2020
A Snapshot of Critical Needs
The foundation published its local nonprofit needs assessment findings report, A Snapshot of Critical Needs, in May. It is being mailed to foundation stakeholders and is available online at cfrrr.org
76% $347,875 $1.84 million Of nonprofits can’t provide some or all of their services and programs.
• Emergency Human Services • Vulnerable Populations • Physical and Mental Health • Nonprofit Capacity to Adapt Service Models Coronavirus Pandemic Response Priorities
Immediate relief grants to area nonprofits as of June 9.
Resources area nonprofits estimate they’ll need to address COVID-19 related needs.
A bleak picture? Those of us who work and volunteer at The Community Foundation know otherwise. We interact daily with essential nonprofits and generous donors. Together, the foundation’s 170 permanent funds collectively give over $1.5 million each year to local nonprofits, churches and schools. The need is urgent and greater than ever before, but we are up for the challenge.
In order to make efficient and effective grants to address our region’s immediate needs, we need timely information about the regional nonprofit landscape. We are grateful for the collaborative support of the George Washington Regional Planning Commission to collate and analyze the foundation’s area nonprofit needs assessment: A Snapshot of Critical Needs. The foundation’s assessment survey asked nonprofits to describe the impact of the
pandemic – both on the people they serve and on their ability to operate. The results are unprecedented. Most nonprofits surveyed are providing basic needs support for people in our region and the majority are not able to provide at least some of their core services. At the same time, 40 percent of surveyed nonprofits report that the demand for their services has increased and that they lack adequate funding.
Foundation News
Spring/Summer 2020
3
Everyone is Impacted
We appreciate the partnership of the George Washington Regional Planning Commission to compile and analyze collected data. Especially these individual contributors:
Coronavirus Pandemic Response Grants as of May 21, 2020
Linda Millsaps, PhD, Executive Director, George Washington Regional Planning Commission
Increase Online Services Capability 30% Medical Support for People at Risk 18% Financial Support for Nonprofit Clients 15% Emergency Food Distribution 15% Housing/Quarantine People in Shelters 10% Childcare and Family Support 6% Promote/Implement COVID Safety Practices 4% Pet Food/Pet Quarantine for Economically Disadvantaged People 1%
Jennifer Morgan, Economic Development Coordinator, George Washington Regional Commission The foundation’s Programs Manager Ali Thomas is Community Relief Fund Lead
Population Served During Pandemic (Primary and Secondary) Economically disadvantaged individuals
47
Children/youth
23
Adults
21
Individuals experiencing homelessness or displacement
20
Other/multiple
15
People with disabilities
12
Seniors
10
Other/targeted
6
Women
6
Animal support 3 Immigrants or limited 3 English language proficiency 0
13
25
38
50
4
Foundation News
Spring/Summer 2020
Coronavirus Response Grants
As of June 9, $347,875 has been awarded to area nonprofits from the Community Relief Fund. Big Brothers Big Sisters Greater Fredericksburg Capital Caring Hospice Catholic Charities - Family Services Fredericksburg Community Ministry Center Cooking Autism Downtown Greens Employment Resources, Inc. Empowerhouse Fredericksburg Area Museum Fredericksburg Baptist Church Fredericksburg Main Street Fredericksburg Regional Food Bank Healthy Families Rappahannock Area Legal Aid Works Lloyd F. Moss Free Clinic Loisann’s Hope House Love Thy Neighbor Community Food Pantry & Soup Kitchen Mary Washington Healthcare Clinical Services – Grief Support Mary Washington Hospital Foundation Micah Ecumenical Ministries Rappahannock Area Community Services Board Rappahannock Area YMCA Rappahannock Emergency Medical Services Council Rappahannock United Way SPCA of Fredericksburg Stafford Food Security Stafford Junction The Dr. Yum Project The Salvation Army of Fredericksburg The Table at St. George’s UMW Museums: Belmont and James Monroe Museum United Methodist Family Services Virginia Community Food Connections Yoga Foundation of Fredericksburg
Fredericksburg Regional Food Bank “One of our clients has four adults and two children in his household. He was temporarily laid off from his nursing job in a same day surgery unit. His wife works in the COVID unit but without his paycheck, they are struggling to pay bills and buy food. The Food Bank was there to take some of the pressure off an incredibly difficult situation.” $32,000 to purchase food for emergency direct distribution to the hungry in our community, including first-time users of the Food Bank impacted by COVID-19.
Lloyd F. Moss Free Clinic “Not every household has a working thermometer, and many lack a blood pressure cuff. To give our healthcare providers accurate information and assist in patient care, these tools are vital to limiting exposure while continuing to support at-risk patients with chronic health conditions.” $4,525 to buy basic medical supplies to help patients at high risk for COVID-19 monitor health at home to provide accurate medical data without increased risk of healthcare worker or patient exposure. $3,650 to install Plexiglas counter guards in the clinic to keep healthcare workers and patients safer when physical distancing is not possible.
Foundation News
Spring/Summer 2020
5
Generous Donors Make it Possible Your gifts today are actively shaping our community in the future. Thank you for responding to the critical needs of our community and giving generously. As of June 9, $527,283 has been donated to the Community Relief Fund! A complete list of donors to this fund is available at cfrrr.org. Our community’s generous support of the Community Relief Fund has been incredible. However, the need is great and will undoubtedly extend well into the future. Everyone can help meet the critical needs of local nonprofits and the people they serve by donating to the Community Relief Fund. Use a Community Foundation return envelope, or click and give online at cfrrr.org. Checks may also be made out to The Community Foundation/Community Relief Fund and mailed to PO Box 208 Fredericksburg, Virginia 22404.
“ We are very impressed by the efficient method (The Community Foundation) developed for making grants and the speed with which you pulled it all together. We feel sure that Doris, who loved the Fredericksburg community and who felt loved by the Fredericksburg community, would very much have wanted the Sunshine Lady Foundation to take part in this community effort. “ We were motivated to make this donation on her behalf by our warm memories of her special Fredericksburg relationship and our trust in The Community Foundation leadership and goals.” The Sunshine Lady Foundation
“ While our company navigates the evolving requirements of this pandemic, The Community Relief Fund gives us a trusted way to help meet countless needs outside the office and throughout the community.” Dynovis
“ We were glad to find a local organization we were comfortable contributing to, and the assurance that our donation would be used appropriately.” Tina and Gary Gemmill
6
Foundation News
2020 Scholarship Awards
Spring/Summer 2020 This year, despite disruptions from COVID-19, The Community Foundation successfully awarded $150,238 to 51 area students. Thank you to each generous scholarship fund donor and volunteer citizen reviewer— you made it possible!
Scholarship fund donors help students achieve their dreams through education by establishing or contributing to a scholarship fund at the foundation. Community Foundation staff help donors create guidelines for students to apply. Some scholarships focus on community involvement, a commitment to a particular field of study or demonstration of leadership ability, and more. In order to ensure each scholarship is awarded to the most suitable candidate, the foundation convenes a panel of volunteer reviewers to evaluate scholarship applications based on criteria that matches the donors’ intentions for the funds. Because of the governor’s social distancing mandates, foundation staff had to retool the annual scholarship review process. Meetings were moved online and staff worked extra hours to collate reviewer feedback.
Ira and Gladys West The newest of The Community Foundation’s 41 scholarship funds is the Ira and Gladys West Scholarship Fund, named for two lifelong Dahlgren employees, Ira and Gladys West. The Wests have lived in the King George community since they graduated college in the late 1950s. Both worked at the Dahlgren Navy Base and made many little known contributions to the Navy in their years there. Dr. Gladys West, a mathematician who contributed to the development of GPS, was inducted into the Air Force Space and Missile Pioneers Hall of Fame in 2018. She was among a small group of women who manually executed computing for the U.S. military in the era before electronic systems. Though not featured in the film, her work was later depicted in the movie Hidden Figures. Mr. West spent the majority of his career working on Submarine-Launched Ballistic Missile programs and was one of the first African-American supervisors on the base.
Christopher Stinson
Each year, the Ira and Gladys West Scholarship Fund will award at least one annual scholarship of $1,000 to a graduating senior in King George County. The West family believes in the power of an education rich in math and sciences. With this scholarship, they hope to support students pursuing a degree in mathematics or other science, technology, engineering or mathrelated fields. Priority will be given to high achieving and highly motivated students with demonstrated financial need. The Ira and Gladys West Scholarship Fund was established by the Dahlgren Heritage Museum. King George High School graduate Christopher Stinson is the 2020 Ira and Gladys West Scholarship winner. He plans to study architecture at University of Miami.
Foundation News
Spring/Summer 2020
7
“These scholarships came as a silver lining during such a difficult period.” Four-time 2020 scholarship winner Christian Taylor just graduated from James Monroe High School in the City of Fredericksburg. “I will attend the University of Virginia’s College of Arts and Sciences, then apply to the McIntire School of Commerce, concentrating in management and marketing with a track in global commerce. I will pursue a career in International Business to explore the business world from a multicultural perspective. Not only do I hope to learn, but I hope to show my appreciation of the different countries’ cultural impact.” The Crittenden R. Sullivan, Jr. Memorial Scholarship Fund The George D. Taylor Scholarship Fund The Mary B. and Perry A. Thompson Scholarship Fund The Kenneth T. Whitescarver III Memorial Scholarship Fund
Christian Taylor
Courtland High School graduate Danica Duque will study computer science and psychology with minors in cyber-security and data analysis, initially at Germanna Community College. “For my family, graduation was not just to celebrate my success as a student, it was for my mother, a first-generation immigrant and frontline nurse who ‘made it’ and my grandmother who, despite not knowing any English, decided to come here and take care of me. However, with the current pandemic and the loss of several family members in the Philippines due to COVID-19, the future seemed bleak. But, on April 29 at about six o’clock at night, I received an email that I was a scholarship winner. It came as a silver lining during such a difficult period. I am very grateful
Danica Duque
for the scholarships you have provided. Because of your generous contribution and belief in higher education, I and many other immigrants, were able to ease our financial burden on our families.” The William and Susanna Botts Scholarship for Immigrants Fund The Seay Family Memorial Fund
8
Have a Plan
Foundation News
Spring/Summer 2020 Taking a few minutes to plan a gift to charity through your will, trust, retirement accounts or estate can have extraordinary benefits for you and our community. The Community Foundation makes it easy. Call Teri McNally or Emma Miller-Richards at 540-373-9292 to make your plan today. cfrrr.org
Carter Frackelton has a plan to educate children now and in perpetuity. She established The Mary Carter Frackelton Scholarship Fund to support the educational dreams of local students each year. Her estate plan includes a gift to grow this fund.
Bev and Don Newlin have a plan to meet our region’s immediate needs for generations to come. They’ve planned a bequest to the Community Fund of The Community Foundation to strengthen our community in perpetuity.
Ann and Chip Reamy’s plan will sustain child advocacy centers, animal shelters and conservation groups. The Chip and Ann Reamy Endowment Fund will give to the causes they care about most year after year. © 2020 The Community Foundation of the Rappahannock River Region
88