Celebrating 90 years with an additional $90,000 for area nonprofits

September 10, 2020

By Jamie Schloegel, Chief Executive Officer

Hello friends!

Yesterday we braved the weather to do something very important; thank our fund holder family in celebration of our 90th birthday. (Did you know LCF is one of the oldest community foundations in the country?!)

The truth is, without our fund holders and donors, we wouldn’t have much good to do. So we invited all area fund holders to drive through our parking lot to pick up a small token of our gratitude for being part of a long, multi-generational group of generous citizens committed to doing good here forever. And doing good they have!

Nearly $60,000,000 has been awarded in grants since LCF was started in 1930 at the La Crosse Trust Company (now Trust Point) at the urging of the La Crosse County Bar Association. The best part is, because most funds are endowed and invested, we aren’t spending the original gifts from donors. The money used to support nonprofits through our grant making is primarily from investment earnings. The power of endowment funds means gifts get to keep on giving… forever.

We have a lot to be thankful for, and have decided to celebrate our 90th birthday by adding another $90,000 to award in our last competitive grant round of the year! Many local nonprofits have suffered tremendous financial loss because of the pandemic, and we want to help as much as possible. This wonderful place we call home just wouldn’t be the same without all of our area’s incredible nonprofits.

One more thing… two of the goody bags we handed out yesterday contained golden tickets worth a $900 grant recommendation each. Check out one of the winners below! She is a philanthropist in the making!

Kurt and Julie Schroeder, pictured here with their adorable granddaughter, won a golden ticket!