In the News: OPRF Community Foundation provides $200,000 to 18 local nonprofits in latest COVID-19 grant fund
An additional 18 organizations have been named recipients of the Oak Park-River Forest Community Foundation’s latest round of COVID-19 recovery grants.
The latest disbursement marks the third round of rapid response and recovery fund grants awarded to date, which gave a total of $200,000 to the 18 area nonprofits.
“Oak Park, River Forest and our neighboring communities are still fighting the effects of COVID-19 and help is still needed,” OPRFCF board chair Donna Myers said. “We remain committed to supporting organizations that are providing relief to at-risk populations, especially those addressing mental health, rental assistance due to unemployment and food security.”
Those receiving grants in this round include the Animal Care League, Awake, Beyond Hunger, BUILD, Inc., CBS Food Pantry, the Collaboration for Early Childhood, the Farmworker and Landscaper Advocacy Project, HEPH Foundation, Housing Forward, Larry’s Boys School Program, Oak Park Area Arts Council, Oak Park Education Foundation, Oak Park Homelessness Coalition, Pro Bono Network, SisterHouse, Sweet Rest, Thrive Counseling Center and YEMBA, Inc.
The organizations are based in or serve Berwyn, Cicero, Maywood, Elmwood Park, Forest Park, Oak Park, Stickney and Chicago, including the neighborhoods of Austin, Galewood, Lawndale, Hermosa and more.
To date, the rapid response and recovery fund has given out a total of $670,000 since it was launched in mid-March with a seed investment of $50,000 from the Oak Park-River Forest Community Foundation. The foundation then matched the first $100,000 in donations dollar-for-dollar.
The fund received an additional boost in May when longtime Oak Park residents Ken and Patty Hunt offered a challenge to match donations, dollar-for-dollar, up to $250,000. In response, more than 300 individual, family and corporate donors provided an additional $270,000 toward the effort.
Even more money was raised when the fund received $250,000 from the Illinois COVID-19 Response Fund, which brought the total to $920,000 in much-needed resources to the region. This year’s LemonAid fundraiser in River Forest will also benefit the fund.
“The pandemic has further highlighted the inequities that exist within western Cook County and beyond,” OP-RF Community Fund CEO Tony Martinez Jr. said. “In the latest round of grants, we are trying to be responsive to needs not just in Oak Park and River Forest, but the greater west side. Our community is not an island, and the challenges faced by our neighbors affect us in both direct and indirect ways.”
Donations to the rapid response and recovery fund are still being accepted, and can be made by visiting www.oprfcf.org or by calling 708-848-1560.
Those interested in learning more about the recovery grant program are asked to contact program director Elizabeth Chadri at echadri@oprfcf.org.
The Oak Park-River Forest Community Foundation was founded in 1959 with a focus on helping donors identify and achieve long-term philanthropic goals and providing grants to organizations in Oak Park, River Forest and surrounding neighborhoods.
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Twitter: @steveschering