Foundation expands with Alexandria affiliate

The Central Minnesota Community Foundation (CMCF) announced that it is expanding with a new affiliate in Alexandria. The Alexandria Area Community Foundation will gain additional resources to grow to meet rising local needs.

“The new affiliation will let us grow, prosper and meet the needs of the community better,” said Orson Opheim, chairman of the board of firectors for the Alexandria Area Community Foundation. “We will still be making grants to local nonprofit organizations, impacting many in the community and still be made up of local board members, but we will be able to draw on the expertise of a well-established foundation that is close to home.”

CMCF, based in St. Cloud, has been connecting people and resources to build a better community since 1985. CMCF also has two other community-based affiliates in Willmar and Brainerd, as well as a supporting organization, the Minnesota Real Estate Foundation. CMCF has grown to more than $65 million in assets and 500 funds.

“The vision and passion of the people behind the Alexandria Area Community Foundation is truly exceptional. What they have been able to achieve is inspiring,” said Steve Joul, CMCF president. “We look forward to helping take the foundation to the next level and making an even more profound impact on the Alexandria-area community.”

A group of community members who had a vision to create an endowment fund that would benefit the Alexandria-area community started the Alexandria Area Community Foundation in 1992. Over the past two decades, the foundation has helped many local nonprofit organizations grow and prosper through funding assistance.

A year ago, the board started exploring options to expand its capacity after recognizing it needed to grow significantly to continue to meet the needs of the community today, tomorrow and long into the future, Opheim said. Learn more at www.CommunityGiving.org/Alexandria.

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