Three checks totalling $2,600 might not seem like a big deal when compared with grants given by other, more-established foundations, but they represented a major milestone for the Litchfield Area Community Foundation.
As the first grants awarded by the foundation, the checks that went to Litchfield Middle School’s FCCLA, the Litchfield Area Mentorship Program, and Watercade Board were significant for the assistance they provide to those three organizations. But they are even more important for what they mean about the long-term goal of Litchfield Area Community Foundation.
“For us, it is a big deal because it’s our first public gifting to the community,” LACF Chairman Leland Fredman said of the grants given in late June. “(Giving the money) means visibility for the foundation. One of the questions people ask us is, as a young fund, ‘What do you do?’ What better way for the community to see what we do than to make these gifts.”
Said LACF board member Randy Reinke: “It’s fun to distribute these funds and show how the process works. The dollars we receive stay here in Litchfield and benefit groups here in Litchfield.”
Litchfield Area Community Foundation was founded in 2002 with help from what is now known as the Southwest Initiative Foundation, which offered a $25,000 matching grant as incentive to get the local foundation off the ground. By 2006, LACF had reached the $25,000 fund-raising goal and received the matching SWIF grant.
The foundation’s board of directors set another goal of $100,000, which was achieved late last year.
“The next goal is $500,000,” Fredman said. “To reach that will really mean a lot.”
Money donated to the LACF’s endowment fund is money that gives forever. Only 5 percent of the fund’s invested balance can be given each year — keeping the principle untouched and earning interest, which only increases the fund’s total.
“This is a long-term commitment to the Litchfield area,” Fredman said.
Board members want to make sure everyone with an interest in making a long-term commitment to the area can play a part by making a financial donation to the foundation.
“It’s a chance for them as donors to help leave a legacy,” Reinke said. “The real message we want people to hear is that they have options to give locally. We want to encourage philanthrophic giving, to build a sense of awareness of what options people have in town.”
There are other foundations to which residents can give locally, and LACF Board members are careful not to portray themselves as competing for funding.
It really should not be viewed that way. Money given to local foundations, where the money will stay in the community, creates the most good for the area. Litchfield Area Community Foundation is just one of those options to do good.
Seeing LACF award its first grants gives us a chance to dream. Imagine if these gifts spark more giving to the foundation — and what a larger endowment fund could mean in terms of funding for community projects.
These first three gifts very well could pale in comparison to what the future holds for LACF giving.
For more information about the Litchfield Area Community Foundation, visit the organization's Web site at: www.litchareacommfound.org [2]