The Houston Area Community Foundation (HACF) recently awarded $11,250. Fundraising efforts started after the Bright Ideas Workshop last November. HACF has had 23 supporters giving from $100 to $1000. In addition to the first-year incentive matches from the Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation, SMIF also provided a pandemic matching grant, which provided four dollars for every dollar raised. In addition to granting $11,250, HACF was also able to grow the endowment to over $11,000.
Grants given in our first year were to Houston Public Library for the Summer STEAM Bags, the International Owl Center for street banners, Houston Public Schools for the Backpack Program, Hiawatha Valley Mental Health for services, and to the Houston Community Food Shelf and the Houston Ministerium to distribute Houston Bucks to those in the community in need.
“Our Summer STEAM Bags, which were funded almost entirely by the Houston Area Community Foundation, were the central component of our revised Summer Reading Program, allowing us to reach, educate, and entertain kids and their families during this unusual summer when the doors to the library were more or less closed. We made and handed out between 100-120 take-home activity kits every Wednesday for 13 weeks in a row, providing instructions and most of the materials needed. Thanks to HACF for making this project possible,” said Liz Gibson-Gasset from the Houston Public Library.
HACF, which was founded in 2019, and provides grants to support programs and projects that improve the quality of life in the Houston area. HACF is an affiliate fund of the Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation, designed to retain local philanthropic wealth in the community.
For more information about HACF, or to become a donor, please visit smifoundation.org/donations/houston-area-community-foundation/.