For more than 40 years, the Jewish Community Foundation’s Community Legacy Fund has been a source of support for local communal organizations.
The fund has been built up over the decades through contributions by dozens of individual donors and is used to help pay for the community’s evolving needs.
Grants from the Community Legacy Fund are awarded to community agencies after review and evaluation by the Foundation’s Grants Committee and approval by the Board of Trustees. Since its inception, the Community Legacy Fund has granted millions of dollars to the community.
Nearly 70 individual funds — totaling $9.8 million — make up the Community Legacy Fund. Many of the funds were established through a variety of planned giving vehicles, including charitable gift annuities, trusts, wills, retirement plans, life insurance policies, and Donor Advised Funds.
Recently, the Community Legacy Fund was the recipient of substantial gifts from the estates of Sam and Lucy Gould. Sam, of blessed memory, established a series of trusts which included a Charitable Remainder Trust to benefit the Foundation. These gifts honor the generosity of the Goulds, and, like other gifts to the Community Legacy Fund, will help ensure the stability of our vibrant community for future generations. There are currently 18 additional promises for the Community Legacy Fund in the pipeline, estimated at nearly $11 million.
The Community Legacy Fund awards grants which will enhance and maintain the quality of Jewish life in the Greater Kansas City area and respond to emergency needs in Jewish communities around the world. Beginning in 2018, the majority of grants made from the Community Legacy Fund support the general operating expenses (core expenses) of Jewish agencies in the Kansas City region. In 2021, the Community Legacy Fund awarded more than $330,000 in grants to 18 unique organizations.
“I am proud to serve as the current chair and a longtime member of the Foundation’s Grants Committee,” Linda Lyon said. “The Community Legacy Fund is a wonderful community asset and a great resource for those looking to support needs within the Jewish community. The committee gives core grants and also has an innovation/emergency cycle. It is a privilege to work alongside the thoughtful community leaders and Foundation staff to ensure we are the best possible stewards of these resources.”
Those wanting more information about supporting the community in perpetuity through a gift to the Community Legacy Fund can contact Josh Stein at (913) 327-8122 or .
The Jewish Community Foundation would like to celebrate the generosity of those who have left a planned gift to the Community Legacy Fund or any local Jewish organization. The Foundation will celebrate at its upcoming “Foundation for Our Future” event. Josh Stein can be contacted for details.