The small town of Bellevue, Iowa, is getting a boost from an anonymous donor who grew up in the area.
The Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque has created the Small-town Dreams Initiative, which aims to "support rural vitality," reports the Dubuque Telegraph Herald.
The initiative's first grant went to Bellevue Youth Baseball and Softball Association for a new restroom facility at its field complex.
"This is not the end for this campaign, but simply an initial goal met," says Lori Loch, executive director of the Community Foundation of Jackson County, which is an affiliate of the Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque.
"We're building a legacy here in town, and we're proud of it," says Molly Ploessl, a member of the "Dream Bellevue Endowment" team that worked to raise the $450,000 needed to create the endowment.
The team has also created a community-wide bicycle rental program, a library of life jackets and fishing poles for the public to borrow, and cameras at the lock and dam for eagle watching and monitoring weather conditions, per a press release.
The Small-town Dreams Initiative is open to any "self-determined high-performing community in the seven counties served by the Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque."
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Senay Ataselim-Yilmaz, Chief Operating Officer, Turkish Philanthropy Funds, writes that philanthropy often solves the very problems that stems from market failure. Some social issues, however, cannot be tackled by questioning the return on investment.