Our Story

What is a Community Foundation?

A Community Foundation helps to build and strengthen communities and bring together people and organizations that want to make a difference. They are tax-exempt public charities that encourage philanthropy and are dedicated to improving the quality of life in the areas they serve.

Individuals, families, businesses, and organizations work with community foundations to create permanent charitable funds that help meet the challenges of changing times. The foundation invests and administers these funds.

Community foundations are the fastest growing sector of philanthropy in the United States today. A community foundation is organized to channel gifts from individual and corporate donors to a variety of charitable organizations in the local community. It is a publicly supported philanthropic institution governed by a local board of private citizens.

Important Features of a Community Foundation

A public, grantmaking charity, dedicated to improving the lives of people in a defined, geographic region.

Bring together the financial resources of individuals, families and businesses to support non-profits in their communities.

Play a key role in identifying and solving community problems.

Offer numerous types of grantmaking programs including donor-advised funds, endowments, scholarships, field-of-interest funds, giving circles and more.

Founding

The organization was incorporated on January 10, 2000, and received 501(c)(3) status on March 16, 2000.

Founding Board Members

Daniel L. Feist

Board Member

Kenneth R. Williams

Board Member

James F. Searcy

Board Member

James M. Thompson

Board Member

Judith E. Howard

Board Member

Kenneth L. Kitzman

Board Member

Additional Early Members

Connie Feist

Founding Board Member

Lowell Latimer

Founding Board Member

Mike Dolan

Founding Board Member

Mark Kohlman

Founding Board Member

Chris Lamoureux

Founding Board Member

The Founding Gift

Initial support came from a significant gift by Mike & Dorothy Dolan.

The Foundation has invested over $25 million back into the community since inception (as of June 2026).

Our Guiding Philosophy

We don’t measure success by funds raised, nor grants given, but rather by the impact we have on the people right here in our communities.

The organization has become ‘the center for community giving.