Community Foundation of Jackson County: Impact the Future of Your Community

Mary Jo Gothard and Lori Loch, Community Foundation of Jackson County Executive Directors

Every year the Community Foundation of Jackson County works collaboratively with nonprofits to support youth and families across our region. With the challenges 2020 has presented in education, we’re particularly focused on providing grants to support teachers and students through grantmaking.

“We are beyond grateful for these funds and the impact that they are having on our students. They allow us to provide more opportunities than we would have been able to, and in these times, that is paramount in making school as normal as possible,” said Cardinal Principal Caleb Bonjour. “The grants also provided some incredibly happy moments for our staff, which has helped to keep morale high during these stressful times.”

This story—along with the countless others like it—demonstrates the importance of the Community Foundation of Jackson County. Like all community foundations, we are uniquely situated to improve our region through supporting innovative solutions and creating powerful partnerships. From November 12 to 18, we celebrate Community Foundation Week, a time when we can share and reflect on the stories of impact over the last year. Though you may not yet know your local community foundation, you’ve likely felt its impact.

That’s because the Community Foundation of Jackson County, along with the Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque and 900+ other community foundations across the country help to bring donors and residents together. Community foundations work to support the efforts that will help the places we call home continue to flourish and grow.

Disaster preparedness is one of the many ways community foundations take the long view for their communities, working collaboratively to understand our region’s greatest needs and use our strengths – convening stakeholders and connecting donors with causes they care about – to address those needs. Thanks to local generosity, the Community Foundation of Jackson County has been able to grant more than $36,000 through our Disaster Relief Fund to support education, facilitate food distribution and help residents stay healthy. We are deeply grateful for this support.

As our region’s critical needs continue to evolve, we’ll continue working hard to meet them. As we enter the giving season, millions of people from every background will be looking to give back to the communities that have supported them. They’ll also look to ensure that their heartfelt giving—however they choose to give—will have the most impact. That’s why so many of them will choose to give to a community foundation.

A gift to your local community foundation is an investment in the future of your community. We like to say that community foundations are “here for good.” At the Community Foundation of Jackson County, we don’t think about the next election or business cycle — we think about the next generation and the next after that.

That can seem a daunting task, but it’s one we all share. During Community Foundation Week, I hope you’ll join us in recognizing our collective impact and the difference we can make together. To make a gift for the future of your community or learn more, visit dbqfoundation.org/cfjc. Follow us on Facebook to find out about the ways people like you make an impact every day.