Fund will support nonprofit organizations protecting environment in Tampa Bay
Tampa, Fla. (Oct. 7, 2021) – The Community Foundation Tampa Bay is pleased to announce the establishment of the George and Mimi Frank Environmental Endowment with a gift of $1,055,000 that will support nonprofit organizations focused on protecting, restoring and improving the natural environment within the Tampa Bay region.
The late donors believed that true community vibrancy is reliant on flourishing environmental resources that the Tampa Bay area has in abundance. The vision of longtime Sun City Center resident Mildred “Mimi” Frank, in particular, was to protect these crucial resources in order to ensure the health and quality of life of those who live in the Tampa Bay region today – and for future generations to come.
“Mimi felt we needed to do more to keep environmental projects on the upswing, and envisioned a fund that could be used locally,” said Bob Mohr, past Community Foundation Tampa Bay chairman and local attorney who was instrumental in the endowment coming to fruition. “It might address loss of natural habitat in Hillsborough County, beaches in Pinellas or river ecology in the Nature Coast.”
That spurred her to establish the endowment with Community Foundation Tampa Bay. Grants from the endowment will be made to nonprofit organizations through Community Foundation Tampa Bay on a rotating basis, with guidance provided by regional councils located throughout the Tampa Bay area. The regional councils are well-suited to identify and fund organizations that are focused on protecting, restoring and improving the natural environment in the council’s region.
“This generous gift will support our community in a time of need and long into the future,” said Marlene Spalten, President and CEO of Community Foundation Tampa Bay. “Our natural environment is critically important to our local economy and our quality of life.”
The Community Foundation Tampa Bay’s Endowment Match Challenge multiplied the impact of the Frank’s generous gift by providing a matching gift of $250,000. Through the Endowment Match Challenge, the Community Foundation Tampa Bay provides a match when nonprofits or individual donors create a new endowment with the Foundation or add to an existing endowment. Currently, the Community Foundation holds more than $221 million in endowed assets, which provide long-term funding stability for nonprofits.
Nonprofits interested in benefiting from the George and Mimi Frank Environmental Endowment are encouraged to participate in the Community Foundation’s competitive grants cycle that opens October 13, 2021. Learn more about the 2021 competitive grants cycle at https://cftampabay.org/grant-application-process/.
About the Community Foundation Tampa Bay
Founded in 1990, the Community Foundation Tampa Bay connects donors, nonprofits, community and business leaders, professional advisors, volunteers and residents to make the maximum positive impact in the Tampa Bay region. For more than 30 years, the Community Foundation Tampa Bay has been dedicated to making giving easy and meaningful for donors as a way to strengthen nonprofit organizations and build a better, more vibrant community. Since its inception, its donors have enabled the Community Foundation Tampa Bay to award more than $280 million in grants to nonprofit organizations across the country.
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