Relief fund pledges hit $1M to ease coronavirus’ effects
The Arkansas Community Foundation has devised a way to get money to nonprofit organizations in the state — especially small groups in rural areas — that are struggling during the covid-19 pandemic.
The foundation has set aside $130,000 to create the COVID-19 Relief Fund, a twopart program to send dollars to nonprofits in need. During the first phase, the foundation will send $1,000 mini grants to 60 nonprofit groups.
The foundation is working with its network of 28 affiliate offices around the state that serve all 75 counties. The fund will support community needs identified by the foundation’s nonprofit partners in human services, food, health, housing and education. The mini grants will be made to nonprofit agencies that meet immediate and long-term needs related to the effects of the virus in Arkansas. The grants are expected to go out in early April.
“Basically, this is why we exist,” says Heather Larkin, president and chief executive officer of the foundation. “We exist to serve Arkansas communities and make them a better place to live and make them more resilient. And when a crisis hits, we are here. We’re a foundation that can respond.”
By March 22, more than 250 nonprofit organizations had applied for the grants, and the foundation was pledged more than $1 million from individuals and companies to fund more mini grants.
Created in 1976, Arkansas Community Foundation is the only foundation in Arkansas where individuals and corporations can create endowment funds for the public benefit of the entire state and its communities, according to the Central Arkansas Library System Encyclopedia of Arkansas.
“The fledgling organization was championed by Mary McLeod, a charitable adviser to Gov. Winthrop Rockefeller, who believed that Arkansas was the ideal place to establish a statewide public foundation. McLeod recruited a steering committee of bankers, philanthropists, and business leaders from across the state,” according to the encyclopedia entry.
Forty-four years later, the foundation has about $420 million in assets.
“Our purpose is to work in all 75 counties and make our communities places where kids want to raise their kids,” Larkin says. “That’s not a tag line. We are a community foundation built by and for the community.”
Foundation leadership will monitor how the covid-19 pandemic affects the state’s nonprofits and may deploy additional resources to best meet the evolving needs. Nonprofits can find more information by contacting the foundation at (888) 220-2723.
During the second phase of the COVID-19 Relief Fund, the foundation hopes to “shift to more intermediate grant-making where we are really talking about the economic needs of Arkansans,” Larkin says.
“We’re trying to shore up critical systems. We’re going to be looking more into healthcare nonprofits, childcare nonprofits, food pantries and human service agencies that are working with people who’ve had a wage decrease or whatever,” Larkin says. “We will be a little more thoughtful in a second round about deploying those dollars. But it will go out fairly quick and fairly easy. We don’t want to burden our nonprofits when they’ve got more on their plate than they’ve ever had.”
In a news release, the foundation defined those intermediate needs as:
■ Health-care nonprofits that may need more funding to provide safety equipment for their employees and volunteers.
■ Organizations providing emergency childcare.
■ Food pantries and groups providing mobile meal delivery for children, the elderly and other vulnerable populations.
■ School systems trying to meet the needs of their students remotely.
■ Human service agencies providing assistance with rent, utilities and other basic expenses for individuals who have lost a source of income.
The COVID-19 Relief Fund is open to the general public for donations.
“Even the smallest bit can help and we hope that other Arkansas businesses can step up and help Arkansans,” Larkin says.
Donations can be made online at arcf.org/covid19, by mailing a check to Arkansas Community Foundation, 5 Allied Drive, Suite 51110, Little Rock, AR 72202 or by contacting the Community Foundation at (888) 220-2723.