As Halloween rumbles through the weekend with trick-or-treating and plenty of holiday parties, many residents begin thinking about the rest of the holiday season throughout November and December, including Thanksgiving and Christmas.
At the Community Foundation for Cloud County, though, Halloween signifies the beginning of one of their busiest times of the year; Match Month.
November is CFCC’s Thanks4Giving Match Month, meaning that every dollar donated will have the chance to get amplified from a pool of more than $200,000 in the Patterson Family Foundation match pool.
The month of giving officially begins on Sunday, Nov. 1, but CFCC plans to host a kick-off event from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 2, at the CO-OP Distribution Center meeting room in Concordia. According to CFCC Executive Director Brenda Gilliland, this event is for attendees to learn about each others’ causes and more about their own communities.
“There will be tons of goodies for you to eat, a very relaxed atmosphere, lots of balloons and picture-taking while visiting with others, it’s very casual,” Gilliland said. “We have what I call structured sharing, and it is literally whoever is there, we’re sitting around the table, enjoying cookies and introducing what you do and who you are, and how you are active in our communities.”
Those sharing are usually a part of the 64 different endowed funds established by recognizable community organizations like the Brown Grand Theatre, Catholic Charities and USD 333 Schools. These endowed funds help non-profit organizations continue growing by using interest rates to continue collecting cash year after year by sitting mostly untouched.
Over the four years that CFCC has hosted Match Month this way, the organization has helped raise almost $400,000 that turned into a more than $1 million impact through the “Match” portion of Match Month. That $200,000 fund pool from the Patterson Family Foundation will match each donation up to the pool total, meaning that if Cloud County raises $200,000 or more, the Patterson Family Foundation will donate the full pool to the endowed funds.
While these endowed funds often have a specific focus area in mind, like a scholarship or a fund for the local animal shelter, CFCC hosts one large fund that also participates but also gives money back to the Cloud County community regularly.
“Match Month also donates to our Impact Fund, which is our largest fund that we have here at the foundation,” Gilliland said. “The bigger we can build that bucket, the more money that we have to turn around and give back to people when they ask. We’ve given everywhere from $500 grants to $25,000 grants.”
For those interested in giving to or participating in CFCC Thanks4Giving Match Month can visit www.cloudcountymatch.org for further information and an online location to donate to the cause. Those interested in donating by mail can send their funds to the Community Foundation for Cloud County at P.O. Box 213, Concordia, KS 66901.
