| Join Our List |  |
|
Letter From The President
| | 
Alvertha Penny
The Holiday season is upon us and as the year draws to a close, you may be searching for ways to help your community and at the same time gain a tax advantage. Gifts made through The Community Foundation of South Alabama can be tailored to fit your charitable intentions and address your financial concerns.
A personalized fund at The Community Foundation is your opportunity to make a difference by supporting issues and non profit organizations that matter most to you. Click here to find out how to create a charitable fund.
I wish you all a very Happy Holidays!
|
| CFSA Annual Investment Performance Presentation | |
The Community Foundation of South Alabama hosted its annual Investment Performance Meeting on November 5 at the Centre for the Living Arts. More than 50 attendees crowded into the Centre for the Living Arts second floor auditorium to listen to various topics relating to investments and finance, as well as, to speak with Foundation staff who cater to donor needs. The Foundation's Investment Committee members, who have over 150 years' combined experience, provided an overview of the Foundation's investment philosophy, discussed the historical performance of the investments in comparison to investment benchmarks and perspectives about the economic outlook.
|
| Community Foundation of South Alabama | | |
Mission
The Community Foundation of South Alabama works to enable healthy communities by serving, convening, and multiplying philanthropy through effective leadership.
|
|
|
| CFSA Hosts Movie Screening Events for "A Place at the Table" |
| Screenings Held in Conecuh and Clarke Counties
Earlier in the year, The Community Foundation of South Alabama launched the Take Your Place Social Action Campaign, in conjunction with Active Voice and several other nonprofit organizations across the nation that are working to end hunger and obesity. The ultimate goal of the campaign is to influence a systemic change around food insecurity and impact the interconnected issues of hunger, poverty and obesity where we live. CFSA hosted its first movie screenings of A Place at the Table in Clarke and Conecuh counties. These counties were selected as target communities based on the 2012 Counties in Focus report, which ranks these counties the highest in poverty and government dependence. The screenings were attended by local government, non profit organizations, fitness groups and concerned citizens. Following the screenings, guest organizations such as Alpha Women's Group, Alabama Cooperative Extension, Bay Area Food Bank, and the Biggest Loser of Conecuh County (B.L.I.C) discussed the film and described how hunger and obesity affect their respective counties. The film screenings provided CFSA with an opportunity to develop relationships and support programs of our rural community partners. The screenings also affirmed the recommendation from The Community Foundation's Communities in Focus Indicators Report to enhance support in our rural communities.  |  |  | |
Geradline Booker, Artense Brown both of the Retired Teachers Association.
|
Kevan Tucker, Clarke County Extension and Latesha Edwards, Bay Area Food Bank.
|
Artense Brown, Retired Teachers Association and Thkisha Sanogo, CFSA.
|
|
| CFSA Launches DonorCentral® | | |
Online Access to fund information
 In December, The Community Foundation of South Alabama is launching a new online tool called DonorCentral®, which will give fund representatives secure, online access to fund and grant making information. Now, new grants can be recommended anytime, anywhere and fund statements can be downloaded online. DonorCentral® will also provide information about upcoming funding opportunities, connecting our donors with the causes they care about most. With DonorCentral®, everything you need as a fund holder is in one place and there when it's needed. Fundholders will receive information on how to access DonorCentral® in December. If you have any questions concerning this new online tool, please contact Melissa Creighton or Laurie Childers at 251-438-5591. |
| Pathways to Prosperity Spotlight | | Balloons Launch Beginning of Literacy Program
In February, CFSA kicked off the Pathways to Prosperity Initiative, a one-year pilot project designed to increase family economic stability by supporting multi-generational literacy programs. CFSA awarded two grants, including one to Goodwill Easter Seals of the Gulf Coast, Inc. to implement its Literacy Involves Families Together (LIFT) program. Based on a national model, LIFT seeks to improve both the academic readiness of children birth to five years of age while also providing skills training to parents to help improve economic opportunities for the family as a whole. The program targets families with preschool age children, whose parents/caregivers are provided with a range of supports and services. Caregivers are also matched with a parent educator who helps to develop a Family Service Plan that outlines both family and individual needs, including school readiness, healthcare, financial literacy, and adult education referrals.
To celebrate the inaugural meeting of the program, recently held at the Antioch A.M.E. Church in Gainestown, AL and it's "lift-off" of the project, participants joined in a balloon release.
Through the program Goodwill Easter Seals seeks to promote the overall importance of attaining literacy skills for low-wealth families in Mobile and Clarke counties.
 | |
*Photo published in The South Alabamian, October 10, 2013
|
|
|
|
