Celebrating National Community Foundation Week

Community Foundation of Abilene joins in a nationwide celebration, November 12-18, 2023, to recognize the increasingly important role that community foundations play in strengthening communities and responding to community needs.

For more than a century, community foundations have served as a trusted partner and resource whose effect can be seen in the lives of millions and in the vibrant neighborhoods that continue to thrive through their mission-driven work.

“Community foundations have the reach, expertise, and relationships to address some of the most pressing issues impacting individuals and families,” said Katie Alford, Community Foundation of Abilene President/CEO. “We are more determined than ever to collaborate with partners to deliver the innovative and lasting solutions that will help our communities to thrive.”

Community foundations are independent, public entities that steward philanthropic resources from institutional and individual donors to local nonprofits and represent one of the fastest-growing forms of philanthropy.

Last week, the Foundation hosted its annual luncheon where reports and highlights of the fiscal year were shared. From July 2022 to June 2023, the Foundation awarded more than $18.4 million in total grants.

As community foundations find solutions for communities large and small, urban, and rural – it is the collective work of these organizations that will have the most profound impact. Community Foundation Week was created in 1989 by former president George H.W. Bush to recognize the work of community foundations throughout America and their collaborative approach to working with the public, private, and nonprofit sectors to address community problems.