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Residents of Adams and the surrounding area have engaged Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation (SMIF) to facilitate a discussion about starting a community foundation—uniting people and resources.

After February’s Community Development Forum took place at the Southland School Commons, two major areas of improvement were determined:

1. Community center programming for area residents .

2. Revitalization of downtown.

With advisement from SMIF, a discussion about the benefits of a community foundation took place.  A community foundation is a nonprofit organization that exists to improve the future of an entire community. It does this through uniting people and resources to address the community’s most critical or persistent issues and produces significant, widely shared, and lasting results.

SMIF currently administers 30 community foundations in the southern Minnesota area, of which they have granted out over $7 million to benefit the future of local communities. For more information about SMIF’s Community Foundations or to view other communities that are a part of this, visit the Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation’s Program tab, then Affiliate programs, then the Community Foundations tab.

To begin the process, a meeting will take place at 9 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 17, at the Fellowship Hall of Little Cedar Lutheran Church. Anyone living, working, and/or going to school in the Adams area is welcome and encouraged to come.

What To Expect During the Discussion:

• How was this brought to the attention of local Adams area residents?

• What is SMIF and why do they focus on community foundations?

• What IS a community foundation?

• What are the benefits to having one?

• What can they do for the community?

• How does one get started?

• What are the next steps?

Presenters will include Tim Penney, SMIF’s President and CEO (and former Minnesota State House of Representatives and Minnesota State Senator), and Alissa Oeltjenbruns, Vice President of Philanthropy for SMIF.

All area residents are encouraged to attend to learn more about this community opportunity. For more information, contact Angela Himebaugh, 507-438-1566 (cell), angela.himebaugh@gmail.com or Lynnette Offen Gerber, 612-619-0660, lmoffen@hotmail.com.