The Community Foundation of Grundy County has started a new summertime tradition of hosting town hall meetings in four areas around the county: Mazon-Verona-Kinsman; Coal City-Diamond-Carbon Hill; Gardner-South Wilmington; and Minooka-Channahon.
Our purpose for the public meetings is to meet residents face-to-face, explain our programs and how they help all parts of the county, and to listen to residents and leaders as they tell us what’s happening in their part of the county. There might be something going on that we don’t know about and maybe we can be of assistance.
Our town hall meetings are hosted by our board members who live in the area. Chris Harty for MVK, Russelle Holsinger for Coal City-Diamond-Carbon Hill, Terry Marketti for Gardner-South Wilmington, and Al Yancey for Minooka-Channahon. Other board members, plus Program Director Devan Gagliardo, often join me to act as another set of eyes and ears to listen to our guests, plus they help tell our story.
The first town hall meeting was in Mazon last week. We had a small attendance, but we did hear some new opinions and viewpoints that we haven’t heard before. All very helpful!
Our next town hall meeting will be Wednesday, July 11th, at 6:30 p.m. at Gipper’s II on Pine Bluff Road near Coal City. Invitations to area leaders have been mailed, but the public is invited to attend. We will provide dessert and coffee, plus there will be a cash bar. Please RSVP to 941-0852 or [email protected].
Sheriff Marketti is organizing the Gardner-South Wilmington meeting for August and Fire Chief Yancey is organizing the Minooka-Channahon meeting for September. Stay tuned for dates and locations!
As you may remember, we started this organization as the Morris Community Foundation. However, as we grew in our programs, we realized that everything we offer is designed for all residents of Grundy County, so we changed our name in 2008 to better reflect our work and scope.
Again, the public is invited to our town hall meetings. We hope you find them to be casual, friendly events where everyone is invited to share their thoughts about the quality of life in Grundy County.
And why does the Community Foundation care? Because we have services and programs that can tackle issues. And if we can’t tackle it, we can take your message to the leaders who can. Also, there are many networks in Grundy County that we either convene or participate in, such as the Behavioral Health Alliance, the Grundy Partnership for Children, the Business Education Council, the Grundy County Area Planners, and the Grundy County Interagency Council.
It may seem like we have our fingers in a lot of pies, but our reason is simple: our job is philanthropy. And with decreasing government funding of all shapes and sizes, philanthropy may be the only solution to some of our county’s and resident’s problems.
In addition to our programs and networks, you as an individual can tackle an issue through philanthropy by using our donor fund services. We offer donor advised funds, designated funds, field of interest funds, and scholarship funds. Each type of fund has a different purpose and one of them is sure to be the right fit for your philanthropic goals.
The fund you design does not have to tackle an issue we have identified. You get to decide what issues and/or organizations your fund will support. That’s the unrealized message of a community foundation that we’re trying to shout from the rooftops – it isn’t about us. It’s about you as the donor and the issues that you care about.
If you have an issue that you want to tackle through philanthropy, we are your service. Please use us! Getting started is easy – phone or stop by, ask us to explain our services and then ask us questions until you fully understand it. You can come to us or ask us to come to you.
It’s all very flexible because it’s about you, the donor, using our services to meet your charitable goals.
To learn more about town hall meetings and/or donor services, please contact us at 941-0852 or [email protected].