April Chamber Member Spotlight-Cleburne County Community Foundation
The Cleburne County Community Foundation was established in 2004 and is one of 29 affiliates of Arkansas Community Foundation. Headquartered in Little Rock, the Foundation was established in 1976 after a group of visionary leaders started with a $258,000 gift from the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation. Since then, it has grown as a statewide organization connected through a network of community-based affiliate offices. Each affiliate has an executive director and local advisory board to help understand the special needs of each town and city. Affiliate offices also provide in-person support for the donors and nonprofits we partner with in each community. With a long history as a trusted partner to Arkansans, the Community Foundation staff and their local boards have been at the forefront of responding to the community needs through well researched, impact driven grantmaking.
Arkansas Community Foundation’s mission is to engage people, connect resources and inspire solutions to build community. Like affiliates statewide, your Cleburne County Foundation office is governed by a local board of professionals from various backgrounds and has an executive director that oversees the day-to-day functions of the local office. Each year between January 10 and February 15, our Giving Tree grant cycle opens for nonprofits to apply. Since 2004, the Cleburne County Community Foundation has provided over $620,000 in local grants to organizations in the area.
One example of a local nonprofit that has received a grant is The CALL— a local organizations that helps foster families. The CALL saw a great need emerging to better educate families on how to help children coming into foster care. The Cleburne County Affiliate provided them with a grant to educate foster families. Other grants made locally include hunger initiatives to fight food insecurity, educational programs to ensure a brighter future for our youth, and many other impact driven programs.
Grants made from the Cleburne County Community Foundation come from a variety of sources, most of which are local. A gift of any amount is impactful in Cleburne County and all gifts made to the affiliate are granted here—keeping local philanthropy serving local causes. Some local families, donors and businesses have chosen to help with immediate needs or have established endowments that will leave a lasting legacy for our community.
For anyone looking to leave a legacy, a tax benefit, fund a scholarship, or help a local cause, the Foundation can help. To learn more, visit
www.arcf.org/ cleburnecounty/ or call Executive Director Susan Vowels at 501-691-1906.
