Open to see "HPCF Special Message: COVID-19 Response"
Residents continue to be significantly impacted by the Coronavirus outbreak
HPCF Board members, staff, and family members assemble COVID Care Kits for distribution to Highwood families by the Highwood Public Library. Project funded by a COVID-19 Emergency Relief grant from the HPCF and additional support from Craig & Monette Leva.
So many Highland Park and Highwood residents have experienced job losses, hunger, mental health issues, isolation, and more. Your donation will ensure that the needs of neighbors are addressed in what continues to be an unprecedented time of uncertainty.
As we take steps to protect our own families, workplaces, and neighborhoods from the effects of the virus, let’s not forget the impact COVID-19 has had on our neighbors. Missing paychecks, the inability to pay rent, and a lack of access to food and essential supplies are realities many residents still face.
Please join us in addressing their needs.
Donations made in support of the HPCF COVID-19 Response & Recovery Appeal will be used to fund requests the HPCF continues to receive from our grant recipients and other agencies that serve Highland Park and Highwood residents. To date, we have distributed 106 emergency grants, totaling close to $240,000, to support the important work of these organizations. Click here to see the full list of COVID-19 Emergency Grant Recipients and the types of needs we gave addressed through our grants.
100% of all donations will go directly to support services and supplies for those in need, with the exception of a small credit card processing fee that online donors may choose to cover.
DONATE TO SUPPORT OUR COVID-19 APPEAL
DONATE TO SUPPORT THE HPCF’S ONGOING EFFORTS
Donations can also be mailed to P.O. Box 398, Highland Park, IL 60035
In an effort to assist the nonprofit community, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) has raised the charitable deduction limit from 60% to 100% of adjusted gross income for itemizers, and allows deductions up to $300 in charitable giving for non-itemizers. C-Corporations can also deduct 25% of their taxable income, raised from 10%. Click here to read more.
David was passionate about the Highland Park Community Foundation (HPCF). As a founder, Board member, and Advisory Council member, David’s contributions were appreciated beyond words. David remained engaged in our efforts even when his health limited his ability to attend meetings and he continued, with the help of his wife Linda, to raise money for the HPCF and further our mission through other means.
David contributed to his community in numerous ways beyond his service to the HPCF and was a very successful businessman. Above all, though, David was a loving and caring husband, father, grandfather, and friend.
We are honored that David’s family designated the Highland Park Community Foundation for donations made in David’s memory. To make a donation online, click here.
Contributions may also be sent to the Highland Park Community Foundation, P.O. Box 398, Highland Park, IL 60035.
2021 Annual Grant Recipients - Creative & Cultural Arts
Bitter Jester Foundation for the Arts
The Bitter Jester Foundation for the Arts (BJFA) is based in Highland Park with an emphasis on bringing art & artists to the city of Highland Park and its residents. BJFA programs and events also encourage members of the surrounding communities to come to Highland Park, many for the very first time, to explore and experience all that the City has to offer. At its core, BJFA is an arts organization but everything BJFA does revolves around the social dynamic of building a vibrant local community and connecting people. Their grant will assist in producing live music and theatrical performances in Highland Park, including a summer music competition for 12-21 year-old musicians.
The goal of East on Central Association is to encourage artistic expression of the creative spirit through its journal and activities, thereby nurturing the arts in Highland Park. Besides publishing an annual art and literary journal, East on Central organizes community events to support the arts.
The mission of the Highland Park Strings is to provide community concerts free of charge where families, friends, and neighbors can gather for an afternoon of musical enjoyment at the highest level featuring top-notch soloists, many from the Chicago Symphony, others from the world stage, and gifted rising stars who are given the opportunity to shine. The Foundation’s grant supports three of their free Sunday afternoon concerts.
The Midwest Young Artists Conservatory (MYAC) is a top rated youth music ensemble program offering exceptional training in jazz, choral, chamber and orchestral instruction. MYAC offers a tradition of nurturing leadership that continues as a core value of their programs. Highland Park Community Foundation’s grant supports MYAC’s Sunday Soirees that are free and open to the public and feature the Conservatory’s award-winning chamber music groups. The Soirees provide performance opportunities for all MYAC student musicians who participate in the Chamber Music Program and, as a benefit to the community, offer pleasant free Sunday afternoon concerts.
The Music Institute of Chicago (MIC) is dedicated to transforming lives through music education. Founded in 1931, the Music Institute has grown to become one of the largest and most respected community music schools in the nation. Offering musical excellence built on the strength of its distinguished faculty, commitment to quality, and breadth of programs and services, the Music Institute is a member of the National Guild for Community Arts Education and accredited by the Accrediting Commission for Community and Pre-collegiate Arts Schools (ACCPAS). The Music Institute offers lessons and classes, and concerts through its Community Music School, Academy, and Nichols Concert Hall. Funding provided by the Highland Park Community Foundation is used to support Musikgarten® scholarships. Musikgarten® is a world-wide leader in early childhood music education, music and movement, and music classes for babies, toddlers, and Pre-K age children. With support from the HPCF, MIC is able to offer full and partial scholarships for young children from low- and moderate-income households in Highland Park and Highwood so they can participate in Musikgarten® classes.
The Art Center Highland Park (TAC) is dedicated to education in the visual arts through classes, outreach programs, gallery exhibitions, and events. TAC is a community-based organization that has been in existence since 1960, whose goal is to ensure access to the arts for all ages and cultural interests. TAC inspires everyone from children through seniors to achieve and transform their world through more than 400 classes offered annually. TAC also brings national and regional art of established and emerging artists to our galleries through 20 exhibits of contemporary art each year to the surrounding community and Chicagoland area. The grant from the Foundation is being used to support TAC’s Community Building initiative, which includes daytime, evening, and weekend projects and programming for low-income youth and families, seniors, and working adults from Highland Park and Highwood. Through this initiative, TAC aims to be a community hub for diverse communities to experience and participate in the arts.
The core mission of Uptown Music Theater is to provide educational instruction and training to help individuals improve and develop their capabilities in theater in a high-quality, professional, and non-discriminatory environment. HPCF’s grant will be used to support Uptown Music Theater’s production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. The production will provide opportunities for everyone in our community to participate, including students, seniors, minorities, low-income residents, and those with special needs. The Theater Company will also accommodate residents who need a discount or free ticket to attend. Coming in the Summer of 2022: Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat