The Future Fund has announced the winners of its 2014 grant cycle today, awarding $20,000 each to two Northern Virginia nonprofits serving military veterans and their families.
The Future Fund is the Community Foundation for Northern Virginia’s giving circle for young professionals. It offers members opportunities to learn about the critical needs of the region, donate at affordable levels to the causes they care about most, and meet their professional peers – other community advocates who see the benefit of pooling monetary contributions to increase the impact of their support to local charitable organizations.
“The grants process for the Future Fund is truly a highlight of my year,” says Evan Weintraub, Director of Revenue Policy & Compliance at ICF International and Future Fund Grants Committee Co-Chair. “As a young professional who spends a lot of time at work, it’s a wonderful experience to devote time to doing something that gives back to organizations benefiting the Northern Virginia area.”
The two grant-winning organizations support veterans of the Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operating Enduring Freedom wars and their families with basic needs. The winning organizations include:
Linden Resources, located in Arlington, VA
The Future Fund will support Linden Resources’ Vets Ready2Work (VR2W) program, providing employment support to ten to thirteen veterans with disabilities. This program pairs each veteran with an Employment Specialist to improve self-esteem and help them obtain and sustain meaningful employment in a career-advancing opportunity that will provide stability and independence. “We are grateful for the grant from the Future Fund,” says Linda Chandler, CEO of Linden Resources. “It is an honor to be chosen by the participants in this unique giving circle within the Community Foundation for Northern Virginia.”
Quality of Life Foundation, located in Woodbridge, VA
This grant will support the Quality of Life’s Wounded Veteran Family Care Program (WVFCP), which addresses the needs of families who provide daily substantial care for severely wounded, ill or injured veterans with a focus on the caregiver and minor children in the home. “This grant will allow us to extend our program to even more Wounded Veteran Families in the Northern Virginia area,” says Kim Munoz, Executive Director of Quality of Life Foundation, Inc. “Behind every wounded veteran is a wounded family. The support from the Future Fund will allow us to quickly respond to a variety of needs, uniquely tailored to each of the families we support.”
The Future Fund Grants Committee reviewed 23 applications this fall after the Community Foundation opened the application process last August to programs supporting military veterans and their families. Members of the committee conducted site visits to five semi-finalists, and narrowed down to four finalists on which the entire Future Fund membership was invited to vote.
“After reviewing more than 20 applications, it’s exciting to award grants to two very deserving organizations. Both Linden Resources and Quality of Life Foundation are serving and supporting veterans and their families in unique and important ways,” says Katy Moore, Co-Chair of the Grants Committee and Director of Member Services for Washington Regional Association of Grantmakers. “As an inaugural member of the Future Fund, I couldn’t be prouder of the nearly $160,000 dollars that we’ve invested in the community over the last three years or of the strong, caring network of young professionals that we’ve established to serve Northern Virginia.”
The winning organizations will be formally recognized at the Annual Future Fund Awards Gala on May 16, 2014, aboard the Cherry Blossom Charter.
