Please Take Care of Each Other

Please take care of each other—a great phrase to end a news broadcast, or in our community, to end a year.

Cindy Andrews, President and CEO, Community Foundation of Lorain County

And you have ended this year taking care of each other in a remarkable fashion; thanks to you, we just announced at year’s end an additional $1M in community grants!  What a fantastic way to bid 2020 farewell and welcome 2021. The million dollars is supporting over 40 community initiatives!

This year has been extraordinarily daunting. Not only have we collectively battled the COVID public health crisis, we have become more aware of how racism and disengagement also represent public health crises. We acknowledge – recognizing these crises is a good start. Then we ask ourselves, “what can we do about this?” I am often reminded of that old maxim that all of us are smarter than any of us. Thus, we come together and engage with each other. We continue to support our local nonprofit and healthcare providers while supporting our racial equity fund and our COVID response fund. And we continue to find ways to engage in our community through discretionary grant making.

Yet our work continues. The blessing of this work is that we connect people who care with causes that matter daily. I say we “get” to do this because it is a privilege to engage in this work every day. I have had the honor and privilege to work in both the private and public sectors for the last 35 years. It is a special joy to do our work with a small but mighty staff, whose combined experience and wisdom encompasses over 75 years of supporting your Community Foundation of Lorain County. 

We celebrated our milestone of 40 years serving Lorain County all year in 2020. The lookback has been affirming our shared commitment to the county. Now it is time to look forward. As we enter into 2021, what ideas do you have for community engagement? Our new Neighbor Up program has invested in South Lorain over the last six months. Our community police forum discussed ways to engage with young adults in our community. And our evaluation work provided terrific feedback for our grantmaking and donor engagement strategies. We are excited for 2021 to begin and hope that you will join us.

Please help us celebrate the next forty years. Check-in on your Neighbor; call a friend or a senior. You will feel better knowing you have made a difference in that person’s day. We all have an opportunity to help one another. Don’t forget our Wellness Wednesdays; the details are attached below. Join us at noon on Zoom on Wednesdays in January!

We may be apart, but we are not alone. From us to you, we extend our very best wishes for a safe and healthy holiday season. Happy Hannakuh. Merry Christmas. Feliz Navidad. Happy Kwanzaa. Namaste. Zai Jian. And best wishes for a joyous New Year!

My best,

Cindy Andrews

President and CEO Community Foundation of Lorain County