Dear Foundation Friends,
I’m in a mood to write a love letter. Maybe it’s all this sunshine, or the vaccines arriving in our valley, but I feel a sense of hope and gratitude and I want to pass it along.
It’s been a year since I began with the Community Foundation and it has been quite a ride so far. Within my first month, the Board and staff at the Foundation formed the
Community Emergency Response Fund to handle immediate and essential needs. To date we have distributed $3.5 million, generously donated by you, to mitigate every community challenge from equipment for classrooms and Internet access for families, to protective gear and translation services, food for the community, health services and behavioral health access, safe housing and hot showers. The community needed, you gave, and we distributed the funds.
In the remarkable, Old Bill’s Fun Run in its 24th year went virtual, and Mr. Old Bill celebrated his 90th birthday.
Later in the year, we invited you to tell us your thoughts on community needs and desires going forward. Those listening sessions gave us insights into our organizational structure, and they are providing us with a pathway forward. In fact, we have Board committees working on addressing systemic issues and strategic planning.
There is an additional, pressing challenge across our community. One of the most critical needs arising from 2020 is for a comprehensive and cohesive response to pandemic and economic impacts on behavioral health. This is the next challenge that the Foundation will work to address with our amazing nonprofit partners in the coming months.
I’m writing this love letter to all of you in this incredible, generous community. Thank you for your support during my first year at the Community Foundation. Thank you for your belief, your fortitude, and your creativity. What a place we live in.
With my appreciation,
Laurie Andrews
President, Community Foundation of Jackson Hole
