JULY 2022
Building Capacity

What I love about working at the Community Foundation for Mississippi is that every day I get to make a real impact on Mississippi. It gives me so much pleasure when I explain to individuals, nonprofits and professional advisors how community foundations can help them achieve their charitable goals and the lightbulb moment happens - their idea IS possible.

Community foundations help individuals and communities think about how they can improve the quality of life in their hometown by setting up what I call a charitable “checking” (non-endowed) or “savings” (endowed) account/fund. As a 501c3, donors to CFM not only receive a tax deduction at the time of their gift and but their donations support a current community need, nonprofit, church or school that they love forever. I saw firsthand how endowments helped save countless nonprofits during COVID-19 when doors were closed and funding sources dried up. Nonprofits who start and grow an endowment are moving their organization toward sustainability in the future.

We are seeing renewed fund growth in 2022 and I am excited for you to get a glimpse below of the Mississippians our team has worked with in the past few months. Working hand in hand with CFM, we will accomplish meaningful and lasting change - for good, forever.


Theresa Erickson
Vice President of Philanthropy
Community Foundation for Mississippi
Friends of Andrew Bucci Fund
The late Andrew Bucci left a creative legacy as one of Mississippi’s most celebrated and prolific visual artists. To honor his memory and the centennial anniversary of his birth, the Friends of Andrew Bucci Fund at the Community Foundation for Mississippi was recently created to help Mississippi public, parochial and private school art teachers acquire supplies that support visual arts instruction for grades PreK-12.

Grant requests are now being accepted by the Advisors of the Friends of Andrew Bucci Fund Selection Committee. Interested teachers may apply for a grant from the Friends of Andrew Bucci Fund. Grant awards of up to $500 each are for the acquisition of art supplies such as paper, paint, paint brushes, pencils, markers, clay and other materials that provide hands-on opportunities for students to create artworks using a variety of media. Applications can be accessed and submitted here. The deadline to apply is July 31, 2022.
Camp for All: Camp Kamassa
For many children, the summer months mean cookouts, frozen treats, trips and summer camps. But for over 55,000 school-aged kids in Mississippi, year-round camps have never been an option due to special needs. Until now. Mississippi’s Toughest Kids Foundation (MTKF) is constructing Camp Kamassa, Mississippi’s first and only year-round fully handicap-accessible camp facility for children and adults with serious illnesses, physical and mental challenges and other special needs.

Friends of Smith Robertson Fund
The Smith Robertson Museum and Cultural Center held its first-ever Victory Celebration Dinner in honor of the Juneteenth national holiday on Friday, June 17. The event kicked off support for the Friends of the Smith Robertson Museum Fund at the Community Foundation for Mississippi, where donations directly support the museum’s mission of preserving and showcasing African-American culture and history.
Janet Leach Scholarship Award Fund
The Community Foundation for Mississippi and the Mississippi Golf Association are proud to announce the 2022 recipient of the Janet Leach Scholarship is Hannah Grace Hinckley of McComb. A 2022 graduate of Parklane Academy, Hinckley is an active golfer and plans to attend Mississippi College in the fall and will play on the MC women’s golf team.

Learn more about Hannah and the Janet Leach Memorial Fund, which awards the scholarship each year and honors an inspiring and formative voice for golf in Mississippi.
Video of the Month: Museum Trail
For more than a decade, the finish line for the Museum Trail project was hard to envision.

The Community Foundation for Mississippi partnered with passionate community members and public partners to unlock funds to bring the project to life – and blaze new trails to wellness and connection for the City of Jackson, including biking to work. Take a look at this reflection on the work of the Museum Trail and CFM's impact through the John F. and Lucy Shackelford Fund.
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