High Point Community Foundation (HPCF) joins in a nationwide celebration, November 12-18, 2020, to recognize the increasingly important role these philanthropic organizations play in fostering local collaboration and innovation to address persistent community and economic challenges.

For more than a century, community foundations have served as a trusted partner and resource whose effect can be seen in the lives of millions and in the vibrant neighborhoods that continue to thrive through their mission-driven work. During this time, community foundations come together to share and reflect on the stories of impact over the past year.  Over the past eight months, we have been working hand-in-hand with local nonprofits to help address Covid-19 needs in High Point.

“The work of community foundations’ spans beyond the practice of giving. There is a tangible impact that can be seen in the lives of these selfless organizations serve,” said Harvey Lowd, HPCF Chair.  “We are more determined than ever to bring our community partners together to find innovative and effective solutions for some of our most challenging social problems and advance the most promising of opportunities to benefit our residents.”

As community foundations find solutions for communities large and small, urban and rural – it is the collective work of these organizations that will have the most profound impact. This was most evident amid this year’s coronavirus pandemic where over $1 billion was distributed nationally by community foundations in response to the crisis. Additionally, community foundations went beyond the money to help their communities adapt during this critical time—supporting charities, schools, nonprofits, and small businesses through partnerships with public institutions in cities, states, and in cooperation with the federal government.

Community foundations are independent, public entities that steward philanthropic resources from institutional and individual donors to local nonprofits and represent one of the fastest-growing forms of philanthropy. “The High Point Community Foundation is in many ways a conduit to connect community needs and our donor’s desires to make a positive impact in the hometown they love,” said Paul Lessard, HPCF President.  “Donor Advised Funds have become one of the most powerful giving vehicles in the entire United States and directs billions of dollars to nonprofits and initiatives.  We at the High Point Community Foundation take great pride in our ability to identify needs and know the donors with the desires to meet specific needs.  We know the nonprofits making impact and connect those nonprofits with donors.”

Community Foundation Week was created in 1989 by former president George H.W. Bush to recognize the work of community foundations throughout America and their collaborative approach to working with the public, private, and nonprofit sectors to address community problems.