Foundation for the Future of Delaware County: Impact the Future of Your Community

Every year the Foundation for the Future of Delaware County works collaboratively with nonprofits to support youth and families across our region. With the challenges 2020 has presented, we’re particularly focused on this goal. A grant for $2,500 from the Foundation’s COVID-19 Relief Fund seeded the Delaware County COVID-19 HOPE Fund, which was developed by Delaware County Pay-It-Forward in partnership with Delaware County Community Services and a $20,000 donation from an anonymous donor. The HOPE Fund was created to serve those who have experienced income loss due to the pandemic and, likely for the first time, will need assistance in the form of gas, food, or support for childcare.

"COVID-19 has caused uncharted financial hardship due to income loss across Delaware County. It is happening to our neighbors, our friends, our co-workers; it impacts any one of us who has experienced unemployment, furlough, wage cuts, or loss of hours due to the pandemic,” explains Lisa Guezko, fund representative. "The HOPE Fund offers a way to pay it forward to those that may not be eligible for other financial resources." To date, 23 children and 16 adults have been assisted by the HOPE Fund.

Nancy Preussner, Foundation for the Future of Delaware County Donor Connections Coordinator

This story—along with the countless others like it—demonstrates the importance of the Foundation for the Future of Delaware 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 Foundation for the Future of Delaware 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 Foundation for the Future of Delaware County has been able to grant more than $27,000 through our COVID-19 Relief Fund to 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 Foundation for the Future of Delaware 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/ffdc. Follow us on Facebook to find out about the ways people like you make an impact every day.