A Busy Fall for the Foundation

The Community Foundation of Grundy County is gearing up for a busy fall!

 

First an update on our “Who Wants to be a Grantmaker?” program.  At the September 10th Chamber “Business After Hours,” host Kevin Olson of Grundy Bank pulled the business card of Danielle Reiersen, a recent addition to the staff of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Will and Grundy Counties.  Danielle chose to donate her $100 to her favorite charity – Big Brothers Big Sisters of Will and Grundy Counties.  Congratulations, Danielle!!

 

Secondly, we’re exciting to announce that “Forecasting and Green Development” is the topic of our 4th annual Grundy County Growth Conference (GC2).  Our keynote speaker will be Rick Mattoon from the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.  Other presenters that day include Ty Warner of the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning, Chris Choi of the U.S. EPA Region 5 office, Chris Huecksteadt of MetroStudy, Ben Carlisle of Teska Associates, and our local favorite, Rick Powell, our Region 2 IDOT engineer.

 

GC2 will be Friday, October 30th, from 8:00 am to 12:30 pm at First Christian Church in Morris.  Registration is $10 in advance and $15 at the door.  Invitations will be mailed next week and the public is invited to attend.

 

We also want to remind everyone of our first-ever essay contest – “What Charity and Philanthropy Mean to Me.”  This essay contest is for any student in 6th through 12th grade residing in Grundy County.  Essays are due October 16th via mail or e-mail.  Prizes are cash for the winners to donate to their favorite charity.  First place for junior high and high school each get $200; 2nd place gets $100 each; and 3rd place gets $50 each.  We hope the kids are as excited to write the essays as we are to read them!

 

Our essay contest leads up to another “first” – the first-ever Philanthropy Conference!  With the help of the United Way of Grundy County and the Morris Hospital Foundation, we are bringing to town dynamic speakers with messages about how great it feels to be philanthropic.  We’ll also have speakers present technical ways to accomplish philanthropic goals.

 

The event is Wednesday, November 18th, at First Christian Church.  We hope donors, professional advisors, and non-profit staff and board members attend.  Not only is November “National Philanthropy Month,” but we’ll also be heading into the holiday giving season.  We hope everyone learns something at the conference that will make the holiday season a great success for donors and non-profits alike!

 

If you have questions about any of our fall programs, please be sure to contact us at 815-941-0852 or via e-mail at [email protected].

 

Enjoy Corn Festival!!