Annual community-wide fundraiser ‘We GIVE’ now underway

​      The Greater Poweshiek Community Foundation (GPCF) and the Claude W. & Dolly Ahrens Foundation (CDAF) has kicked-off the year-end giving season with the annual We GIVE for Poweshiek County, a month-long fundraiser that started on Oct.1 and continues through Oct. 31.
     Nicole Brua-Behrens, Executive Director of Greater Poweshiek Community Foundation, invites givers across Poweshiek County and beyond to come together during “We GIVE” month, “to accomplish good things in our communities, for our neighbors and friends, for our first responders and veterans, for our environment and our children, for our schools and our graduates, for our present and our future.”
      This year’s “We GIVE” for Poweshiek County is stimulated by several matching challenges offered by private donors, the Greater Poweshiek Community Foundation along with the Board and Staff of the Claude W. and Dolly Ahrens Foundation. The matching challenges to help boost giving include Create a Legacy Through Endowments: The GPCF Board will match new endowed donor advised funds established on or after Oct. 1, 2022 with a maximum of $500 per new fund. Gifts to Meet Student Needs: Glenn and Ginger Sterk will match dollar for dollar every gift to the Dr. Kevin W. Sterk Elementary Student Needs Endowed Fund up to a total of $2,000; Brooklyn Community Giving Maximized: An anonymous donor will match $2 for every $1 given up to a combined total of $50,000 to the following endowed funds benefitting the Brooklyn community: Brooklyn Community Foundation, Brooklyn Historical Society, Brooklyn Fire Department, Citizens Scholarship of BGM-Dollars for Scholars, Michael J. Manatt Community Center and the East Poweshiek County Ambulance funds; Lessen the Burden on CDAF’s Partner Programs: The CDAF Board and Staff will match dollar for dollar every gift to the CDAF Administrative Operating Fund up to a total of $50,000 so that 100 percent of donations benefit the Partner Programs.
       “We GIVE” shines a spotlight on the work of local nonprofit organizations and causes. Julie Gosselink, President and CEO of the Claude W. and Dolly Ahrens Foundation shared, “We GIVE month is a time to highlight issues that continue to affect members of our community. Our goal is to rejuvenate our community, build for the future, and reinforce our guiding principle to grow community through giving and to leave it better than you found it.”
        Donors may specify which fund or project they wish to support when sending contributions to GPCF, P.O. Box 344, Grinnell, IA, 50112, or CDAF, P.O. Box 284, Grinnell, IA 50112, donating online at www.greaterpcf.org,www.ahrensfamilyfoundation.org or contacting the Foundation Offices at 641-236-5518. GPCF and the Claude W. and Dolly Ahrens Foundation partner through the Community Support Services program to provide back-office services for programs and donors.