Fund Background and Purpose
Established in 1985, the FCCF has as its goal sustaining a vital St. Louis community through grants to local social service agencies and organizations working directly with people affected by poverty and homelessness in the greater St. Louis region. Organizations focused on issues surrounding homelessness, poverty and/or underserved populations in the greater St. Louis area are given priority in evaluating grant requests.
Grants are targeted to specific programmatic needs rather than general support of the organization. Factors such as need, effectiveness of the proposed response, served population(s), financial leverage, possibilities for church member involvement, visibility and anticipated impact are all considered.
The Fund was originally established as the Community Action Endowment Fund or CAEF, with a $1,000 donation from the late Renni Shuter. The Fund balance now exceeds $100,000 through additional generous donations from the Shuter family and fundraising. Grants are funded from income derived from the endowment and typically average $400- $500 per grant.
Donations to the Fund are greatly welcomed at any time!
To discuss a donation, please contact our Church Administrator, Lynn Hunt at 314.361.0595 (ext. 24) or (email hidden; JavaScript is required)
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Our Process for Awarding Grants
Notice of the grant process and deadline goes out each July to community non-profits on our First Church Community Fund database. Church Members may recommend non-profits to our database by sending all relevant contact information, including Executive Director or other relevant organizational contact, e-mail, phone and address information to: (email hidden; JavaScript is required)
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Grant applications are usually accepted through the first week in September and evaluated by the First Church Community Fund committee. Grant recipients are announced in early October.
Recent Grant Recipients
2022 Recipients of the First Church Community Fund Grants.pdf
2020 FCCF Grant Recipients.pdf
2019 Grant Recipients_1106.pdf
First Church Community Fund 2018.pdf
If you would like more information on First Church’s Community Fund e-mail: (email hidden; JavaScript is required)
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