In late 2020, CFA teamed up with Franklin County and Welcoming City, an organization that helps New Americans find employment in central Ohio, to design, construct, and distribute masks to underserved communities through its SLAY SAFE campaign. The effort’s agenda was twofold: to offer free masks to the community and provide income for local entrepreneurs. Supported by a $13,500 grant from The Columbus Foundation’s Emergency Response Fund, CFA contracted with six local minority fashion designers who each created a unique mask design.

The Payne Theological Seminary is the oldest freestanding African American seminary in the country and is home to students from all over the world. In 2017, the board at Payne established the Payne Theological Seminary Endowment Fund, an Organization Endowment Fund at the Foundation, to ensure ongoing growth and honor the stewardship and legacy of a significant gift made to the school.

What started as a classroom project between teachers in two central Ohio high schools has blossomed into Erase the Space, a nonprofit organization that gives students and teachers a broader perspective of life in our city. In September, Erase the Space received a $10,000 grant from the Columbus Foundation Racial Equity Fund to continue its work with NExT Hub.

Beshert, Yiddish for 'meant to be,' is a word both Carol Fey and Joan Wurmbrand, MD, regularly use to characterize their life together. The couple, together for 34 years and parents to three children, regularly give back to the communities they are passionate about.

For 45 years, Columbus Karma Thegsum Chöling (KTC) has been at the pinnacle of the Buddha’s teachings in central Ohio. After a devastating fire in 2016 that destroyed the temple, the organization established the Columbus KTC Rebuilding Fund, an Organization Endowment Fund at The Columbus Foundation, to help collect donations as rebuilding efforts got underway.

Environmental grantmaking at The Columbus Foundation grows to new heights in 2022.

Explore how Battelle continues to advance science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education, impacting one million students annually, and its commitment to shaping the future by providing opportunities for all.

Days spent swimming, fishing, hiking, and more are a way of life for thousands of youth each year in central Ohio. Time spent at camp is full of learning new things, working together with friends, and making memories. That’s how summers are for campers at Camp Ken-Jockety, a Girl Scout of Ohio’s Heartland camp located in Galloway.

In celebration of the 10th anniversary of Black Philanthropy Month and the commitment to community shown by Black philanthropists in central Ohio, local community leader and 2020 Harrison M. Sayre Award honoree, Catherine Willis, and estate planning attorney and philanthropist, Ashley Ingram, sat down with Associate Director of Donor Services Chris Donovan to discuss the robust shape of Black philanthropy in our community.

Joanna M. Pinkerton and the entire COTA team named the 2022 Spirit of Columbus Award honorees for going above and beyond to show steadfastness, courage, and resolve by putting others first during unquestionably historic times—demonstrating the Spirit of Columbus remains alive and well in Columbus.