 |
|
|
CAPE COD FOUNDATION July 2017 |
|
|
Who Are The People
In Your Neighborhood?
Kristin O'Malley, President and CEO
Recently, I had a surreal experience. It made me feel like I had walked out of my ordinary life and onto a television set. Not
Game of Thrones or House of Cards.
That might have been cool. No, I had landed on Sesame Street, PBS's perky place for preschoolers. There was Bob (the affable music teacher who lives in an apartment above Hooper's Store) and a handful of Muppets (no pun intended).
Oh, who are the people in your neighborhood?
In your neighborhood?
In your neighborhood?
Say, who are the people in your neighborhood?
The people that you meet each day.
Each verse focuses on a different occupation: fireman, postman, doctor, baker, bus driver, etc. The idea is to teach little ones about the people who live in their community: "They're the people that you meet when you're walking down the street... They're the people that you meet each day."
What triggered this bizarre detour to Big Bird's block? Our recent office move. When the moving van pulled up, I recognized one of the professional movers.
Each of his four children have received scholarships from The Cape Cod Foundation. Later that day, I went to the local hardware store to pick up a few essentials for our new office. The man behind the counter noticed the assortment of cleaners, paint scrapers and picture hanging kits in my basket and asked me what I was up to. When I introduced myself and explained we had just moved into the neighborhood, he smiled warmly. "My son received a scholarship from the Foundation a few years ago." Cue theme song.
When I stopped to think about it, I realized--deep-down realized--I run into people who have received scholarships from the Foundation all the time, all over the Cape. In the last 15 years alone,
the Foundation and our partner, The Cape Cod Association, have awarded more than $9.3 million in scholarships, helping thousands of
local students pursue higher education or certificate programs. We've helped a lot of people in our extended neighborhood
prepare for careers in business, law, engineering, medicine, politics, social work, environmental sciences, education, and the arts. Why, in our very next newsletter, you'll read about two recent scholarship recipients who want to be astronauts. And, it wouldn't surprise me a bit if we're watching them blast off into space someday.
What I hope you'll take away from this SURREAL Sesame Street story is that we have a very REAL impact on the people in our community, the people that we meet each day. And, you are--or can be--a very real part of this incredible phenomenon. Volunteer to review scholarship applications. Start a scholarship fund. Donate to an existing one. Create your Cape Cod legacy today!
Thank you for being part of our neighborhood.
|
|
|
LAST MONTH: What Princess Poppy Taught Me.
READ
|
|
|
| 2017 CAPE COD FOUNDATION SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS AT OUR JUNE 13 RECEPTION |
2017 SCHOLARSHIP AWARDS EXCEED $850,000
The Cape Cod Foundation recently awarded $420,000 in scholarships to 138 local students who are beginning or continuing their higher education or pursuing certificate programs. The Cape Cod Association, a supporting organization of the Foundation and one of the oldest and largest independent scholarship funds in New England, distributed an additional $430,000 in scholarships to 286 students from the Cape Cod & Islands. Together, the two organizations awarded almost $55,000 more in scholarships than in 2016.
Past scholarship recipient Dorothy Bassett gave the keynote speech at the June 13 reception at the Dennis Inn. From 2006-2009, the Chatham native received scholarships from the Foundation to earn an associate's degree from Cape Cod Community College and a bachelor's degree in Environmental Sciences from the University of Massachusetts in Boston. Today, she is the Director of Operations for the Chatham Marconi Maritime Center and STEM Education School.
Many thanks to our event sponsor, The Cooperative Bank of Cape Cod.
THE CAPE COD FOUNDATION RELEASES
ANNUAL REPORT: IMPACT 2016
Our mission is simple: to make our community better. Every year, we measure our success by the impact we have across Cape Cod: how many opportunities we created, how many collaborations we initiated, how many projects and programs we helped fund, and how many people benefitted from the opportunities and resources we helped provide. We've been talking about impact since the Foundation's beginning more than 25 years ago, and we'll be talking about it for the next 25 years. This year, we decided to put it front and center on the cover of our Annual Report as a constant reminder that results matter--what we do here matters. We also want you to know that we couldn't do this without you: our funders, donors and supporters. Our annual report is as much a testament to your efforts as it is to ours. This is just a snapshot of the impact we've made in our community together this year.
HIGHLIGHTS OF 2016 INCLUDE:
We invested nearly $3 million dollars back into the community to support education, arts and cultural experiences, health and human services, housing initiatives, environmental projects, and programs for children, youth, and families.
Our funds grew to 305 and now represent $52 million in total assets.
In collaboration with eight funders, we brought Tufts University's award-winning Institute for Nonprofit Practice Pilot Program to the Cape. Sixteen local nonprofit leaders participated in this extensive training program designed to ensure organizational excellence and drive social change.
We launched CONNECT Cape Cod. This dynamic online tool
(connectcapecod.org) gives nonprofit leaders, government funders and other stakeholders a central access point to community resources and information and serves as a forum for issues that impact the quality of life on Cape Cod.
We received re-accreditation from the Council on Foundation's National Standards for U.S. Community Foundations®, the nation's highest standard for philanthropic excellence.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
