An extraordinary story of collaboration has inspired our final LEAP Session of 2021 on December 14: Beyond Shared Space. Each of us, regardless of our profession, background, perspective or circumstance always has more to learn about creating welcome, building bridges, and sharing space, and we are honored to share a local story that speaks to that community-wide journey.
In partnership with The Steinman Foundation, we are proud to introduce the Pursuit of Equity Prize, the largest prize in the history of the ExtraGive! This $50,000 prize seeks to celebrate and encourage organizations pursuing equitable practices within their organizations. The ExtraGive offers all of us a unique platform to understand more deeply the causes we care about and the work happening all around us.
Thanks to the generosity of more than 30,000 donors, as well as countless others across Lancaster County (and the world!), together we made the 2021 Extraordinary Give the most impressive event yet. This year was more important than ever to help support each other: caring for each other's health, supporting our local businesses, and especially, supporting the many causes on this site that care for people and enrich our lives.
The Lancaster Clean Water Fund, administered by the Lancaster County Community Foundation and managed by the Lancaster Clean Water Partners, awarded $2,051,560 to 15 clean water projects in the most recent grant round.
Thanks to your support, the Extraordinary Give has become the largest per capita giving day in the country. As we approach the 2021 event, I want to share a bit of the behind-the-scenes work of our organization and update you on some new additions to the ExtraGive platform designed to better support your thoughtful giving efforts.
We're proud to share with you our latest report on the work we've taken on together to build a more equitable, caring, and extraordinary Lancaster County. To celebrate our successes, learn from our challenges, and take the next steps towards our shared future.
The LGBTQ+ Giving Circle is taking shape thanks to the leadership of community volunteers. Their leadership is helping to create an Advisory Committee, which will guide the overall vision of the Giving Circle. The individuals on the committee will reflect diversity in : career/vocation, age, race, gender identities and sexualities within the LGBTQ communities, ally-identifying, and lived experiences.
We are honored to announce the establishment of the High Foundation Fund at the Lancaster County Community Foundation. This new fund joins the Community Foundation’s Forever Lancaster movement which is building our community’s philanthropic legacy.
As we move forward, we want to identify structural barriers that business owners face, and develop recommendations for equitable business recovery using input from the community, to enhance and fill in gaps that may exist in current initiatives. We want to invite small business owners to share your stories, what is important to your business, your aspirations for small business support, and what the community can do to help you succeed.
