Why We Give

Fountain Hills Community Foundation Recipients

A SEASON OF GIVING

Each year, the Fountain Hills Community Foundation receives dozens of grant applications from local nonprofit organizations to help with new projects, and ongoing projects. These organizations rely on donor support and grants to grow and survive.

2023 GIVING SEASON

A record amount of funds raised from the 2022 Flutter at the Fountain event provided more than $60,000 in grants to 30 local nonprofit organizations as part of the Foundation’s 2023 Giving Season.

Recipients

2022 GIVING SEASON

Prior to the annual membership meeting and election of directors on March 23 at DC Bar and Grill, recipients from 27 local non-profit organizations accepted close to $50,000 in charitable grants. The amount is nearly $10,000 more than 2021 gifts, thanks mainly to a highly successful 2021 Flutter at the Fountain fundraiser.

Recipients

2021 GIVING SEASON

April 29, 2021 found us at the Community Center celebrating the accomplishments of 18 local 501-c3 groups as we awarded a total of $40,000 to these groups.  This money was the result of efforts of the inaugural Flutter at the Fountain event held in November, 2020.  The Foundation is excited to be a part of the future of these great organizations!

Recipients

2020 GIVING SEASON

The Foundation’s re-inauguration into the community took place in March, 2020.  At the outset of COVID-19, we had the privilege of awarding $26,450 in grants to 22 organizations, each in need during this perilous time in our history.

Recipients

THANK YOU’S

Thank you so much for selecting Boys & Girls Clubs for a $5000 grant towards our Camp EDventure and STEM enrichment programming.    I am excited to have the kids return and begin our efforts.  I look forward to updating you at the end of the year on our progress.    I’m sure you would have much rather received a picture of cute kids (I would much rather have sent that! 🙂) but below is a picture of me and the check as requested.  Thank you again!

 

Lauren Stratton

Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Scottsdale

Fountain Hills Comm Fdn;
Dear Committee members,
On behalf of Flying Flowers Butterfly Team, we would like to thank you for your generous check of $250 to help us build a beautiful native butterfly garden in Fountain Parl. We are delayed due to Covid 19 however we will send pictures and progress reports.
Nancy, Allyn, Lisa & Joe

Flying Flowers Butterfly Garden

On behalf of the Fountain Hills Dark Sky Association, I want to sincerely thank the Fountain Hills Community Foundation for your recent
$500.00 Community Grant Award in support of our 2020 Dark Sky Festival.

You may be aware that our live Festival, originally scheduled March 28, was cancelled due to our concerns about the Festival possibly becoming a conduit for spreading the Coronavirus. However, not to be defeated, several creative people on our board of directors developed a “Virtual
Dark Sky Festival” that we posted online beginning March 28. You can see the entire Virtual Festival at http://fhdarksky.com/ [1].

One part of the Festival was a student art contest, in which local students were invited to submit entries on dark sky themes. Nearly $1000
in prize money was awarded, and your generous Community Grant was applied to that purpose. The accomplishment of your award was (and still is, because the Virtual Festival is still online) to facilitate further education of students and the public about the beauty of dark skies and
about dark sky preservation, through artistic vision. You can view the winning entries at http://fhdarksky.com/ [1] and by scrolling down to
Segment 4.

As you requested, a photo of your award check is inserted below and is also attached as a JPEG file. (We would have preferred to send a group
photo, but in an effort to maintain disciplined social distancing, we opted for only one person – myself.)

Again, we sincerely thank you for your support of our mission to protect the dark skies over Fountain Hills!

Scott Adams

President, Fountain Hills Dark Sky Association, Fountain Hills Dark Sky Association

Good Afternoon,

On behalf of the entire Board of the Fountain Hills PTO, Inc., I want to thank you for your generous grant in the amount of $250.00 to be applied to our “Librarian Expansion Program”. Below please find just a few of our Board members (and a couple of the beneficiaries of why we do what we do), who came together for this picture to show our gratitude.

Thanks so much again,

Shawn Uphoff

FHUSD PTO President, Fountain Hills PTO, Inc.

Dr Bill Myhr and Stan Ziefert from the FH Sunset Kiwanis Club accept the FH Community Foundation $2000 to provide eye exams and glasses for
uninsured children.

Fountain Hills Sunset Kiwanis Club

Hello: Noon Kiwanis Club of Fountain Hills would like to thank the Fountain Hills Community Foundation for awarding the $2,000 grant to our
club. Attached is a photo of me with the check for your use.

Sincerely,

Keith Larson

President-Elect, Noon Kiwanis Club of Fountain Hills

On behalf of Encore (Senior Services) we thank you for the generous grant of $1,200 for the New Adventures program.

As requested, attached is a photo of the check. We weren’t able to gather the board members, so it’s just me.

Thanks,

Rose Gonsoulin

Treasurer, Senior Services of Fountain Hills, Inc

Dear Fountain Hills Community Foundation – on behalf of all the cats in kittens supported by your generous donation, we wish to thank you for
providing grant funding of $250 to Fearless Kitty Rescue. With this funding, we can continue to support stray and homeless cats the residents of Fountain Hills find.

As of January 1, 2020, Fearless Kitty Rescue has taken in 12 kitties from our community. One kitty, in particular, “Thai,” was rescued on
January 18, after we received a call from MCSO because of a call they received about a man found unresponsive in his vehicle in the parking
lot of Safeway. Another two kitties, “Blossom and Butch,” were found in a box by a resident after they were dumped behind Target. These are just some of the circumstances that occur many times throughout the year. As always, Fearless Kitty Rescue tries to help as many residents as possible by taking in these stray kitties.

It takes a very caring community to help support homeless animals. Fearless Kitty Rescue is grateful to the Fountain Hills Community Foundation for your support of our programs!

I will send a picture along with a detailed report of the funding later today.

Again, on behalf of all the kitties your grant is supporting, we thank you.

Fearless Kitty Rescue

Dear Fountain Hills Gives,

Thank you for the generous donation. Attached is a picture as well as formal thank you letter. Hope all are staying safe and healthy.

Sincerely,

Ginny Paulsen

Foster Your Future

On behalf of the Board of Directors for the International Dark Sky Discovery Center (IDSDC), I want to thank the Fountain Hills Community
Foundation for the $500.00 Community Grant Award.

As noted in our request, the award will be applied to the creation of an inspiration video that will be used to support the fundraising efforts
for the IDSDC. The video is currently in production and we expect it to be completed by sometime in May. Its release date will be tied to the
relaunching of our fundraising efforts, which will happen when social distancing is no longer required and we can again have meetings with
potential major donors.

I wish we could give you a photo of our entire Board showing appreciation for your contribution. However, given the current social
distancing guidelines, it will have to be just me. Sorry about that.

Again, thank you for your support. We look forward to when we can share the video with you that you helped make possible.

Joe Bill

Fountain Hills Dark Sky Association

To the Fountain Hills Gifting Committee,

The Fountain Hills Soccer Club extends its most sincere thanks for your recent grant of $500.00 to our program. The FHSC is committed to
providing a positive soccer experience to the youth of our community and your donation helps us achieve that goal. For our most recent Fall 2019 season we had approximately 125 kids participate in at all ages and skill levels. We pride ourselves on keeping registration fees low and
the ongoing support of local businesses and individuals makes that possible. The club also provides registration scholarships for families
in need so that their children can participate at no or reduced cost.

We will be including the Fountain Hills Community Foundation on our list of sponsors for the upcoming Fall 2020 season.

Please find attached a picture of our Board of Directors meeting held this evening via Zoom. We thought it appropriate to prop up the check
in front of the laptop screen as we observe the appropriate social distancing/stay at home protocols! We are currently living in an unprecedented time, but we are certain that the Fountain Hills community will emerge stronger having faced this challenge.

On behalf of the FHSC Board, I thank you again.

Fountain Hills Soccer Club

Dear Fountain Hills Community Foundation,

Troop 6445 is so thrilled to receive the $500 grant to help with their community project. We are excited work on getting quality and low maintenance fauna/flora signs on the Overlook Trail. It’s been a challenging spring for our troop as all Girl Scout gatherings have been canceled. Our six and seven year old girls miss our meetings to work on community projects together laugh and play.

As a troop leader I’ll use this time to get the groundwork laid through the parks and recs department. I am hoping they will be receptive to our community project idea. Thank you so much for supporting our girls in making the community and our world a better place.

Sincerely,

Erika Percic

Troop Leader, Girl Scout Arizona Cactus Pine Troop 6445

THANK YOU !!!!!
William O'Brien

Treasurer, Golden Eagle Education Foundation