2020 community
grants recipients

POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY COMMUNITY FOUNDATION AWARDS $54,750 IN COMMUNITY IMPACT GRANTS

The Pottawattamie County Community Foundation has announced its 2020 Community Impact Grants award recipients. In its largest grant funding cycle to-date, the foundation will award 37 grants totaling $54,750 to area nonprofit organizations.

Individual grant awards for this year’s funding cycle range from $500 to $2,500 to be used towards local projects throughout the county.

Pottawattamie County Community Foundation said it witnessed an impressive number of grant proposals during its spring grant cycle, with 60 applications totaling nearly an unprecedented $190,000 in project requests. The granting committee, consisting of board members and county residents, “were truly impressed by the quality and variance of projects throughout the county.”

Although this year’s funding cycle resulted in fewer grant awards, the outcomes translated to more significant individual granting amounts in the $2,000 and $2,500 range — more than the foundation has awarded in years past.

“Our county is fortunate to have so many worthwhile projects happening, particularly during a very difficult time,” said Donna Dostal, president and CEO of Pottawattamie County Community Foundation. “At PCCF, we are excited and honored to support the important work being done by our nonprofit partners and community organizations to help make a true impact and enhance our overall quality of life.”

The majority of PCCF’s grant making is directed by donors who have funds created to directly impact charities located within our community.

Dostal added that individuals and businesses can create their own fund through PCCF as a means to “give back” to our community, and their contributions can receive major tax benefits. New endowment funds and future contributions will receive an additional 10% contribution from PCCF, and an Endow Iowa tax credit of 25% may also be available.

In 2019, PCCF donors and the foundation provided 192 grant awards totaling $539,125.

For information on creating a fund, call the foundation at 712-256-7007 or go to ourpccf.org for more details. PCCF is nationally accredited by the Council on Foundations.

Through PCCF, individuals, families, businesses and organizations can create permanent charitable funds that help their communities meet the challenges of changing times, the organization said. The foundation invests and administers these charitable funds.

Like all community foundations across the United States, PCCF is overseen by a volunteer board of leading citizens and run by professionals with expertise in identifying the needs of their community.

Pottawattamie County Community Foundations grants have been announced to the following organizations:

• American Midwest Ballet, Season 11 outreach and education | $1,500

• Birthright of Council Bluffs, formula vouchers | $1,000

• Carson Community Rodeo, Carson Rodeo VIP Booths, Phase 3 | $2,500

• Charles E. Lakin Human Services campus, back to school extravaganza | $1,500

• Chi Health Mercy Council Bluffs, basic health needs assistance program | $1,500

• City of Avoca, Holidays on Main 2020 | $1,000

• City of Council Bluffs, Parks and Recreation, Recreation on the Move | $1,000

• Phoenix House Family Services, Completely KIDS | $1,000

• Council Bluffs Schools Foundation, summer read and feed program | $1,000

• Council Bluffs Soccer Club, Soccer for All scholarship program | $500

• Crossroads of Western Iowa, Crossroads LINKS Lift | $1,000

• First Responders Foundation, First Responders Support Team programming in Pottawattamie County | $2,000

• Gibraltar Neighborhood Association, Fairmount Park Trailhead project | $1,000

• Golden Hills RC&D, 2020 Southwest Iowa Art Tour | $1,500

• Golden Hills RC&D, promoting Pottawattamie County’s Great Outdoors through film | $2,000

• Historic General Dodge House, virtual tour and education project | $2,500

• Impact Hill, Impact Hill 2020 programming | $2,000

• Inter-Faith Response, emergency assistance fund | $1,500

• Jennie Edmundson Memorial Hospital Foundation, Caring for Our Community pharmacy vouchers | $2,500

• Justice For Our Neighbors-Nebraska dba Immigrant Legal Center, southwest Iowa immigration legal services | $1,500

• League of Human Dignity, medical equipment loan and rental program | $1,500

• New Visions Homeless Services, MOHMs Place food and food supplies | $2,000

• Oakland Volunteer Fire and Rescue Department, pager replacement project | $1,500

• Omaha Bridges Out of Poverty, southwest Iowa poverty alleviation initiative | $1,500

• Omaha Conservatory of Music, Pottawattamie County String Sprouts | $1,000

• Omaha Performing Arts, 2020-21 Musical Explorers | $1,000

• Omaha Symphony, 2020-21 Mission Imagination at Iowa Western | $1,500

• Pottawattamie Arts Culture & Entertainment, PACE Music & Movies in the Park/community events | $1,500

• Share My Smile, Mission Victory | $500

• Southwest Iowa Mediation Center, Children in the Middle Class Pottawattamie | $1,000

• Southwest Iowa Nature Trails Project, Wabash Trace Pottawattamie County resurfacing | $2,000

• Underwood Optimist Club, community ball field facility and concession improvement | $2,000

• Union Pacific Museum Association, Farm to Fork Tales; stories of recent immigrant farmers | $1,000

• Walnut Community Center Foundation, youth basketball | $2,500

• West Pottawattamie County Agricultural Extension District, Speak Up Be Safe program | $2,000

• Wings of Hope Cancer Support Center, healing garden | $1,000