Inaugural grant awarded from Shelby County Endowment Fund to reduce food insecurity

SHELBY COUNTY, Mo. — Local food pantries will receive a boost this fall thanks to a grant from the Shelby County Endowment Fund with the Community Foundation Serving West-Central Illinois and Northeast Missorui. The Shelby County Endowment Fund was established in 2023 as a permanent source of charitable support for needs and opportunities in Shelby County.

The Food Bank for Central and Northeast Missouri received a $1,500 grant during a presentation Aug. 26 at the Shelby County Courthouse grandstand. The grant will be used to distribute food to Shelby County food pantries, including the Bethel Food Pantry, Shelby County Food Pantry, Shelby County Senior Center and Shiloh Christian Children’s Ranch. These organizations support 1,932 neighbors in Shelby County.

In a press release, Nathan Hillard, Shelby County Fund Council chair said, “We are extremely excited to be able to put our county’s endowment to work so soon with the Food Bank that makes a huge impact in our community. Our vision for the endowment is to better our community and what better way of doing that than taking care of our neighbors.”

A group of local volunteers began an effort in 2023 to raise the funds needed to establish a permanent County Endowment Fund. Upon successfully raising $15,000, the Community Foundation matched those donations with $15,000. Thanks to the generosity of the following donors, known now as the “Shelby County Endowment Founders Circle,” the fundraising goal was met in just less than one year.

• Anonymous donor
• Tyler and Allie Bennett
• Benson Financial Group
• Chariton Valley Communications Corporation
• Martha East
• Joyce Ellyson
• Linda and Steve Fahle
• Michael Gaines
• Hillary Greenwell
• Pat and Laura Greenwell
• Sandra Greenwell
• Nathan Hillard
• Macon Electric Cooperative
• Kaylee McFarland
• Catherine Meckes
• Missouri Rural Electric Cooperative
• Neighbors Bank
• Northeast Missouri Power Co-Op
• Shelbina Knights of Columbus Council 2241
• Shelbina Men’s Organization
• Shelby County Implement
• United State Bank

The resulting Shelby County Endowment Fund is a permanently endowed charitable fund exclusively for the benefit of Shelby County. It is a communal fund that anyone can give to and strengthen the quality of life in Shelby County.

“We are incredibly grateful for the donors who helped us ‘meet our match’ and create this endowment. They have paved the way for us to retain and build permanent resources that will keep Shelby County strong for generations. We invite everyone else who cares about Shelby County to join us by making a gift to our endowment,” Hillard said.

Gifts made to the fund are invested for long-term growth. Grants are made from earnings, providing a permanent, steady source of support for local needs and opportunities.

The Shelby County Fund Council will annually evaluate applications from Shelby County nonprofit organizations through the Community Foundation’s Community Grant program.

“The Shelby County Endowment Fund is a way to ‘keep local money working for local causes,’” Hillard said. “Anyone can make a gift to the Shelby County Endowment Fund at any time and be confident that their gift is more than a donation. It’s an investment into the future of Shelby County.”

Gifts to the Community Foundation for the Shelby County Endowment Fund are tax-deductible as allowed by law. Gifts of cash, securities and other appreciated assets, estates or trusts, IRAs, life insurance and even grain and farmland are accepted and will help ensure the future of Shelby County.

To make gifts to support future grantmaking in Shelby County, or to learn more about the fund, contact Hillard at (660) 651-2856 or nmh9109@gmail.com.

Community Foundation Contact:

• Bailee Duesterhaus, Program Manager
• (217) 222-1237
• bduesterhaus@mycommunityfoundation.org
• www.mycommunityfoundation.org
• 621 Vermont, Quincy, IL 62301