As Ozarks high school students prepare to begin college, many will have help from the Community Foundation of the Ozarks' scholarship program.

Earlier this month, CFO awarded $482,056 in individual scholarships, including renewals from nearly 200 scholarship funds. CFO manages more than $12.8 million in assets dedicated to scholarships, according to a news release.

The Douglas County Community Foundation is pleased to announce that they have met their goal of raising $21,361 as part of the Harry Cooper Supply Company Campaign for the Ozarks. This money will matched dollar-for-dollar through the Cooper Campaign.

The Harry Cooper Supply Company Campaign for the Ozarks is a dollar-for-dollar challenge grant in partnership with the Community Foundation of the Ozarks that is part of an overall regional effort to enhance community grantmaking endowments, establish administrative/operations endowments, and promote appropriate and best practices by community foundation board of directors.

The surveys reveal a relatively split foundation community on whether a recession means that foundations should hunker down on existing missions or rethink purpose. A debate in a Council on Foundations newsletter between Karl Stauber of the Danville Regional Foundation and Emmett Carson of the Silicon Valley Community Foundation summarized the merits and liabilities of revising foundation mission during a down period. Stauber argued for continuity and suggested that foundations “must have the courage and will to balance the short-term charity needs with the long-term philanthropic opportunities.” Carson, on the other hand, argued for change, saying, “Each foundation has an obligation to consider whether, and how, to respond to this crisis.”

Both Stauber and Carson lead community foundations whose discretionary grant pools may have more room to consider these questions than at private foundations whose restrictions are tied to their endowments.

The http://www.topfoundationgrants.com/index.php/Foundation-Display/312/0/?foundation=Ventura%20County%20Community%20Foundation’s Women’s Legacy Fund annual grants program is underway. The deadline to submit grant proposals is 5:00 p.m., Friday, May 15, 2009.

The VCCF’s Women’s Legacy Fund is an endowed grantmaking fund to support nonprofit programs focused on the economic, educational, physical, emotional, social, artistic and personal growth of women and girls in Ventura County. Each year, donors to the fund review the needs of the community and vote to select issues of importance to women and girls in the county. Over the past 12 years, the Women's Legacy Fund has awarded 107 grants totaling $775,500 to a variety of programs to improve the lives of women and girls in our community.