Plough Foundation secures United Way
The Plough Foundation is granting $5 million to United Way of the MidSouth to provide security for the future of the agency.
The Memphis-based foundation announced Wednesday in a news release it will give its remaining funds to local nonprofit organizations, which included United Way of the MidSouth, a longtime recipient.
The current endowment fund for United Way was established in 1987 by the foundation with a $5 million grant, paid over five years, to support general operational needs and create sustainability, according to the release.
“United Way has been such an iconic and effective supporter of the nonprofit community in Memphis and our region for decades,” said Diane Rudner, chairman of the Plough Foundation board. “Plough Foundation is making this grant with total confidence in United Way of the Mid-south as a trusted steward of the resources of our foundation, which over the 60 years of the foundation’s existence has reflected our long-term mission of doing the greatest good for the greatest number of people.”
Rudner especially praised United Way’s Driving the Dream movement, an effort to help families out of poverty by offering them resources.
Driving the Dream is crucial to families during the COVID-19 pandemic, the release said.
“As a donor-funded, public charitable foundation, the business of United Way of the Mid-south, as all Mid-south nonprofits, has also been severely disrupted by the global impact of the pandemic on the economy,” said Kenneth S. Robinson, president and CEO of United Way of the Mid-south.
“Yet, our board and I are grateful that Plough Foundation looked beyond the temporal nature of the crisis to make another transformational, future-facing investment in our endowment fund; thereby further ensuring a solid operational undergirding for our ongoing work to improve the lives of Mid-southerners.”