For the important role it plays in bringing stability to those in need, especially with eviction prevention efforts during the pandemic, The Columbus Foundation recognizes IMPACT Community Action as the 2021 Columbus Foundation Award honoree.

Mid-Ohio Food Collective (MOFC) was founded in 1980 with the mission to feed hungry people in our community. Since then, the organizations shifted to focus on getting to know those they serve better beyond procuring and delivering food, instead focusing also on developing ways to create a hunger-free, healthier community. 2020 was a year unlike any other MOFC has seen, and the organization distributed what amounts to 170,000 meals a day, a 25–30 percent increase over the previous year.

The Columbus Foundation is proud to facilitate 300 Scholarship Funds that help make a difference in the lives of young people chasing their dreams. Learn more about one of those amazing students, WaTeasa Freeman.

When Bill Wells took the stage at The Columbus Foundation’s Davis Hall in December 2012, he could hardly contain his excitement.

Thanks to the generosity of Columbus Foundation donors Tom and Ann DiMarco, elementary school children in southeastern Ohio are benefiting from valuable programs that fall outside of the school district’s budget.

Learn about the life-saving work of the 2023 Acorn Award honoree Frontline Medical Ukraine Fund, established by U.S. Army Brigadier General Mark Arnold (Ret.), and its mission to provide vital medical supplies and training to Ukrainian soldiers and civilians amidst Russia's invasion.

Blind from the age of two, jazz legend and Columbus True Original Rahsaan Roland Kirk redefined musical genius—playing multiple instruments at once and inspiring generations through fearless creativity and vision.

Jeff Wilkins, one of Columbus' True Originals, helped pioneer the digital age by launching CompuServe in Columbus—transforming how the world connects, communicates, and shares information online, and laying the foundation for today’s internet.

Since 2019, The Columbus Foundation has led a human-centered design practice that helps nonprofit and social sector leaders gain a deeper understanding of our community’s assets, challenges, and needs. Done in collaboration with local nonprofits, city and regional partners, and members of the community, this innovative approach empowers individuals with firsthand experience of a community issue to help co-create solutions that promote positive change. In 2024, The Columbus Foundation’s Designing for Community Well-Being team sought to better understand why some high school students in Columbus are chronically absent from school.

In today’s hyper-paced world, political and social powers are seemingly in a perpetual state of disruption and disorder. Why is this? What has changed in the early days of the 21st century to make it so? The recently released, bestselling book, New Power, looks at the way ideas and movements spread in this new age of connectivity.