The Coweta Community Foundation, Inc., is celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2017 and plans to make it a banner year for the Foundation and the community.
The Foundation will kick off the year by hosting a Grants Reception Jan. 20 at The Newnan Centre, an event that will see thousands of dollars awarded to local nonprofits.
And from the Big Give blood drive coming up on Valentine’s Day to the Second Annual Saturday Down South event in April and the Third Annual Power of the Purse in October, the Foundation aims to make 2017 unforgettable.
“This is going to be an amazing year for the Coweta Community Foundation,” said board Cchair Ginger Queener. “We’ve got some exciting plans we’ll be sharing with the community throughout the coming year, and we’re eager to have everyone ‘Come Grow With Us.’”
In fact, “Come Grow With Us” is not only the theme for the year but also a motto that the community can expect to hear regularly in 2017.
Established in 1997 under the guidance of the Newnan-Coweta Chamber, the Foundation was established to maintain the charitable intent of donors and to act as a catalyst to help focus local philanthropy on the community’s changing needs. The Foundation manages funds that directly support a variety of community interests, such as women’s and children’s issues, public safety, education and the arts.
In 1997, the first major project of the Foundation, Kids’ Castle Playground, was completed, but the board didn’t stop there. This group of visionary individuals quickly recognized that there were nonprofit agencies in the community that found it financially impossible to apply for and receive their 501(c)(3) status, so the board decided to become a Fiscal Sponsor. The Board extended its nonprofit status to three nonprofit agencies— CLICK (Certified Literate Is Coweta’s Key), the adult education program; Coweta FERST Foundation; and Stepping Stones. Donors to these agencies were then able to deduct their contributions, and these groups became eligible to apply for grants to bring funds to Coweta to support their programs.
Not too long after that, The Centre for Performing and Visual Arts of Coweta County (now known as the Donald W. Nixon Centre for Performing and Visual Arts) came under the wing of The Foundation as well. By providing the same platform that was made available to the other nonprofits, The Centre for Performing and Visual Arts Board of Directors was able to acquire funds from The Lauren Stepaniak Foundation and The Thomas McKeehan Estate, both of which provided funds for string instruments and the beautiful Steinway piano now at the Centre.
In 2013, The Coweta Community Foundation and The Coweta Together Foundation merged under the name of The Coweta Community Foundation in an effort to better serve the citizens of Coweta County. The goal was to connect local organizations to ensure that more Coweta citizens received the help they need and deserve.
“We are so thankful for our founding members and what they started,” Queener said, “and as of today, it is estimated that The Coweta Community Foundation has become a catalyst to place over $500,000 in individual and corporate philanthropic dollars into the hands of our community’s nonprofit agencies and organizations.”
She noted that the Foundation is also regularly told that donors like the fact that, as Foundation members are fond of saying, “What’s raised in Coweta, stays in Coweta!”
For more information on how to get involved, call the Foundation at 770-253-1833 or visit cowetafoundation.org.
