Philanthropy for all ages

As lunches get packed and tardy bells ring, Future Fund is proud to support the needs of Abilene’s students with back-to-school grants!

The Future Fund held its annual summer celebration at the Abilene Zoo in July. In addition to feeding the giraffes and hearing the lions roar that evening, our guests participated in a unique grantmaking opportunity. 

Guests voted for the kid-related issue they wanted to support most with a grant. Kids in attendance got to cast two votes (as opposed to the adults’ one vote). Who better to weigh the needs of kids than KIDS?! 

The votes were tallied by counting coins, and checks were cut the following week. 

The Future Fund awarded $3,500 in grants to provide youth sports scholarships, address student hunger and hygiene, and purchase new clothes, shoes, and supplies for families in need.

It was a joy to watch our young guests learn about local students’ needs. After thoughtful consideration, they would drop their little coins into the jars representing the need they cared about most. Their decisions were balanced, and their votes were intentional, with wonderful conversations unfolding with the adults who tagged along, too.

Even as the new school year kicks off, I think those kids are already pretty smart. They were open to learning and eager to stand up for their fellow students’ needs. They gave careful thought to the priorities of other Abilene kids. Perhaps we can learn something from them, maybe over a PB&J in the school cafeteria. I imagine they have a few more ideas on how we could improve our community and support Abilene kids.

In the meantime, we invite you to support Abilene kids by joining (or renewing) the Future Fund today. 

Your annual membership dues provide grants to nonprofits serving children and youth and allow us to offer special grantmaking opportunities as described above.

Good luck to all of our students this year!

— by Michelle Parrish, CFA grants director