Outreach Community Ministries was one of 22 not-for-profit organizations in DuPage County to receive a grant from the 2014 Spring Community Needs Grant Cycle of The DuPage Community Foundation. The grant, which totals $5,000, is from The DuPage Community Foundation's Snodgrass Family Fund. It will help underwrite Outreach’s Employment Opportunity Centers, which provides youth at risk and vulnerable young adults with opportunities to access career education, job training, career employment opportunities and college opportunities.
The grant was awarded during a special distribution breakfast on June 10 at the Glen Oak Country Club. An additional eight grants totaling $59,938 were awarded from restricted funds to organizations which had also sought funding through the Spring Community Needs Grant Cycle. The total of all grants awarded during this cycle, whose amounts ranged in value from $2,400 - $20,000, was $337,356. Community leaders, Foundation trustees, benefactors and other stakeholders attended the event.
Foundation Director of Programs Barb Szczepaniak shared her pleasure with the Foundation’s support of local organizations: “Today is all about celebrating the great work each of you is doing in DuPage County and a celebration of our partnership together. I truly enjoy the grant breakfast every year because it’s such an uplifting occasion — a day to remind us that we are collectively making a difference in our community.”
The Foundation also makes grants to DuPage County not-for-profits working in the areas of arts and culture, education and environment as part of its Fall Community Grant Needs Cycle. That most recent cycle awarded $204,000 to 30 organizations this past December. (The list of these grant awards may also be found at www.dcfdn.org.)
In addition, the Foundation makes grants throughout the year from its various donor-advised and other restricted funds. For the fiscal year ending June 30, 2013, the Foundation granted more than $2.3 million, representing a 25% increase over the previous fiscal year.
Outreach Community Ministries is a family of faith-based, community service organizations serving Central/Western DuPage County. The services of Outreach occur in neighborhood and community-based locations. Programs include counseling, case management, mentoring, youth development, college scholarships, transitional housing and community development.
The DuPage Community Foundation seeks to raise the quality of life throughout DuPage County by fostering philanthropy, connecting donors to area needs and building community partnerships. Based on the American virtues of volunteerism and philanthropy, the Foundation fosters a legacy of support for the people of DuPage County by making grants to not-for-profit organizations working in the areas of arts and culture, education, environment, health, and human services. Since its inception, the Foundation has built its endowment to more than $55 million and awarded more than $18 million in grants to not-for-profit agencies serving the residents of DuPage County and beyond.
Established in 1986, The DuPage Community Foundation is a publicly-supported 501(c)(3) organization to which contributions are tax deductible. It was created to benefit the people of DuPage County and receives contributions and bequests into a permanent endowment from individuals, corporations, organizations and foundations wishing to make lasting contributions to the people of DuPage. The earnings on these funds are then used, in accordance with donor wishes, for the Foundation’s grantmaking and community leadership activities.
For more information about the Foundation, or to arrange future media opportunities, please contact Joelyn Kott, marketing & communications officer, at (630) 665-5556, extension 19, or jkott@dcfdn.org.
