Summer Party will celebrate 30 years of the Highlands Community Fund, with chair Colleen Kerrigan saying the August 20 gathering is both a celebration of local philanthropy and an investment in Highlands’ future.
Set for 5:00 to 7:00 P.M. Thursday, August 20, at Hudson House at Highlands Country Club, the Summer Party will benefit the Highlands Community Fund, an affiliate fund of The Community Foundation of Western North Carolina. This year’s event marks a milestone for a fund that has turned generosity into long-term support for local nonprofits.
“This summer’s event is to celebrate 30 years of the Highlands Community Fund,” Kerrigan said. “We will have photos and highlights from our three decades of philanthropy serving Highlands.”
She said the evening is also a chance to show how local giving becomes lasting support for the nonprofits that serve the community year after year.
“The beauty of it all is that we never spend the principal,” Kerrigan said. “It is just the interest and market increase in value that we spend in grants to the nonprofits, so donations and bequests are held in perpetuity.”
She noted that the the endowment grows from the proceeds of this event, annual gifts, and planned gifts. That long view has defined the fund from the start.
Kerrigan said founder Moyna Monroe, who spent childhood summers in Highlands, returned full-time in the mid-1990s determined to give back. With help from T.he Community Foundation of Western North Carolina, Monroe launched the fund in 1996 and built a board that reflected the wider community.
As Kerrigan explained, Monroe envisioned the fund as “a way for people to band together, to pool their resources when special needs or opportunities arise, and to create a perpetual resource for current and future needs.”
What began with an initial gift of $10,000 has since grown to more than $3 million.
Over the years, the Highlands Community Fund has awarded 226 grants totaling $1,416,686 to 40 nonprofits serving Highlands.
Since fundraising through what was previously called “Rise and Shine” began in 2015, proceeds have been added to the endowment, strengthening the fund’s ability to give each year. Last year’s Rise and Shine event raised nearly $70,000, and last fall the fund awarded 14 grants totaling $105,605.
For Kerrigan, those numbers reflect neighbors investing in neighbors.
The August 20 Summer Party, she said, offers a chance to celebrate what has been accomplished while helping secure the next chapter. Guests will gather not only for an evening at Hudson House, but also to honor an idea that has endured for three decades: When a community pools its generosity, the benefits can last for generations.
For more information, Kerrigan can be reached at (615) 400-5498. To learn more about grantmaking or to donate and buy tickets, please visit highlandscommunityfund.org”
Favorites Count: 0