The Community Foundation of the Fox River Valley (CFFRV) recently awarded grants totaling $162,000 to support 17 social service agencies, all doing critically-important work in the Fox River Valley:
• Administer Justice. For new desks, workstations, and computers so their staff is better equipped to serve the legal and spiritual needs of the poor.
• African American Men of Unity. For new computers to assist young men in the program with their homework, skills assessments, and job searches.
• CASA Kendall County. For office equipment to help staff members be more productive as they are advocates for the interests of abused and neglected children in Kendall County’s Juvenile Court System.
• Dream Build Play Experience. For a new inclusive playground on the grounds of Hope D. Wall School in Aurora for use by all children in the Fox River Valley.
• Easter seals DuPage & Fox Valley. For new therapeutic equipment to help enable infants, children and young adults with disabilities to achieve maximum independence.
• Ecker Center for Mental Health. For new flooring and furniture at their behavioral health services facility where clients are empowered to create their highest quality of life.
• Fox Valley Christian Action. To replace of one of their buses that transport children and underserved youth from throughout the Fox Valley area to their camp location in St. Charles.
• Fox Valley Food for Health. For new kitchen equipment to promote a nutrition-focused community and help prepare meals for individuals and families struggling with a health crisis.
• Fox Valley Music Consortium. For new instruments to bring music education opportunities to Fox Valley youth and for fine musical performances for people of all ages.
• Healing to Healthy. For new sewing machines to create and provide comfort items to women healing from a mastectomy.
• LivingWell Cancer Resource Center. For new equipment for their culinary and wellness program, part of the compassionate care that empowers, encourages and offers hope to patients with cancer and their families.
• Loaves & Fishes Community Services. For a new computer server to support its mission to provide healthy food and impactful programs that promote self-sufficiency.
• Open Door Rehabilitation Center. For new flooring, ceiling and wall treatments in its new program area serving adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
• Rialto Square Theatre. For new website software to enrich the quality of life in the Fox Valley by encouraging artistic and cultural development.
• River Corridor Foundation of St. Charles. For enhancements to the Langum Corridor Trail and riverfront improvements in St. Charles.
• Senior Services Associates, Inc.. For furnishings and equipment for the non-profit agency’s new senior center in Aurora to help sustain and improve the quality of life for individuals 60 and older.
• Three Fires Council, Boy Scouts of America. For improved parking lot lighting and new carpeting for the office and store in St. Charles, serving 14,000 Fox River Valley scouts in 10 districts.
Grants were approved in Fall 2019, and ranged from $2,000 to $20,000 per agency.
In sum, CFFRV approved $541,747 in total funding for 37 agencies in 2019 as part of the foundation’s Discretionary Grantmaking Program.
“Each year, CFFRV puts four to five Million dollars back into the community through grants and scholarships,” said John Diederich, president and CEO of Rush Copley Medical Center, and board chairman of The Community Foundation of the Fox River Valley. “It’s the Board’s pleasure to support good programs, organizations, and people doing what is most needed in our community.”
In January 2020, the CFFRV Board of Directors appointed Julie Christman as the foundation’s president and CEO, charged with focusing on partnerships and community engagement, visibility and growth, all under the umbrella of service.
Julie Christman, the Foundation’s new president and CEO, expressed her gratitude for the opportunity to form meaningful connections with local agencies, now and in the future. “I don’t know of another community as dedicated to making their community better,” Christman said.
The Venue, downtown Aurora’s eclectic new music venue, was a fitting location for CFFRV’s grantee recognition ceremony. In 2018, CFFRV awarded a significant grant to the Fox Valley Music Foundation to help renovate The Venue, which is now open and already adding to the cultural and economic fabric of downtown Aurora.
— The Community Foundation of the Fox River Valley