Annual report highlight: Meeting local needs
July 1, 2022Jeanne Leaver
Jeanne Leaver and her husband Bill created a donor advised fund at the Community Foundation because they wanted a sustainable way to support the area they were born in and returned to as adults. It was here they learned the importance of giving back through the example of their families and neighbors.
“Bill and I both had times when we needed help and people were there for us,” said Jeanne. “Others in the community set the example and you don’t forget that.”
The Leavers worked to become informed about local needs and thought hard about the kind of impact they wanted to have. After Bill passed away in 2020, their practice of carefully researching opportunities fell to Jeanne. “I’ve had to take the reins on our fund,” she said.
One thing enhancing Jeanne’s new process is the Community Foundation’s catalog of funding opportunities, which gives donors a chance to get involved in grantmaking. During each community grant round, request summaries from the grant applications are shared with donor advised fundholders. Donors like Jeanne can then recommend grants from their funds to help fill the needs of local nonprofit organizations.
“Looking through the funding opportunities is a really enjoyable time for me,” said Jeanne. “I enjoy reading about what’s going on in the county.”
Now, as she travels around the community, Jeanne finds herself noticing the progress of the different projects she read about in the catalog. “I see something every day that those grants are doing,” she said. “So many areas of our lives are touched by the work of the Community Foundation.”
