The Greater Cedar Rapids Community Foundation administers the Frontier Co-op Giving Fund, which is a donor-advised fund. This means that Frontier Co-op makes recommendations on grants, and the Community Foundation is responsible for ensuring that the grants meet regulations and for handling the grant-making process.
FUNDED BY OUR MEMBERS
The Frontier Co-op Giving Fund is funded primarily through uncashed patronage checks. Some members of Frontier Co-op donate the funds they receive as their share of the co-op's profits. This is especially true for groups such as buying clubs that do not file income tax returns.
HELPING NEAR AND FAR
Funds from the Frontier Co-op Giving Fund have helped many organizations. Organic-focused organizations that have won grants include The Organic Center and The Organic Farming Research Foundation (OFRF). Educational grants have been made to American Botanical Council (ABC) and to the Center for Agroecology at the University of California at Santa Cruz towards a scholarship endowment.Many local events and fundraisers also benefit from the Frontier Co-op Giving Fund. Among them are the Especially for You Race Against Breast Cancer, Big Brothers and Big Sisters, and Trees Forever. And we often match dollars raised by employees for their favorite charities. The Frontier Co-op Giving Fund has made contributions to disaster relief, too. Those grants include the Red Cross—for the tsunami in Japan and the tornado in Joplin, Missouri. And several local organizations benefited from disaster-relief funds for the huge flood that occurred in our area in 2008, a flood that changed the landscape in local communities forever.