As media reports highlight and as we’re hearing directly from HPCF grantees, many of the organizations we support are navigating an increasingly uncertain funding landscape.
The importance of our grants has never been clearer. With significant volatility at both the federal and state levels, the nonprofits we support face significant gaps in funding needed to sustain the vital programs and services they provide for residents. With your support, we can help fill these gaps and minimize interruptions to the essential services and programs so many people in our community depend on.
In the coming weeks, we’ll be sharing our 2025 Impact Report, which will highlight the tangible difference your contributions make. Keep an eye on your mailbox and email—we look forward to showing you the power of giving in action.
Thank you for standing with us to support those in need. Together, we improve lives.
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Important Update about Year-End Giving
As we approach the end of the year, we want to share an important update that may affect donors who make and mail year-end donations.
A USPS change was made effective on 12/24/25 regarding how and when mail is postmarked. In many cases, postmarks are now applied at regional processing facilities rather than at your local post office. As a result, the postmark date may be later than the day you actually mailed your gift.
Because the IRS generally recognizes the USPS postmark date as the official gift date, this could affect whether a mailed donation is recorded as a 2025 contribution.
How to Ensure your Mailed Check is Credited in 2025
If you plan to mail a check, the USPS recommends one of the following options to confirm timely mailing:
- Visit the post office counter and request a hand-stamped postmark showing the mailing date
- Purchase postage at the counter or a self-service machine, which prints the date on the label
- Use Certified or Registered Mail, which provides a dated receipt as proof of mailing
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Though we can’t Gather for Good in person this year, there are still needs to address and people to recognize and thank
Carol Louise Anspach Kohn – “Cookie” Kohn
2020 Jack Blane Community Service Award Recipient
The Jack Blane Community Service Award, launched in 2014, honors Jack Blane, a founder and long-time Board member of the HPCF, and his exemplary work in the community.
We proudly recognize Cookie Anspach Kohn as the recipient of this year’s award!
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In 2018, the Highland Park Community Foundation established the Personal Achievement Award to honor a Highland Park High School senior for significant personal achievement. The award recognizes a student who, among other things:
- Demonstrates a genuine commitment to persevere despite obstacles or personal challenges;
- Sets personal goals and challenges him/herself to achieve them;
- Thrives in the school environment;
- Works hard and is a positive influence; and
- Shows appreciation for the help he/she receives.
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Our Corporate Champion Program Continues to Grow.
We are delighted to share that Mariani Landscape has joined our growing list of Corporate Champions. We look forward to visiting their new Design Center, which is opening in downtown Highland Park in early May, and hope you will stop by, too.
Mariani’s Corporate Champion pledge will provide monetary resources needed to support HPCF’s mission to address unmet needs and expand opportunities for all Highland Park and Highwood residents now and in perpetuity.
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To all our supporters: We join you at this time of giving thanks for touching lives in so many ways.
For Thirty years, you have Helped us Address Needs of our community, fostering Kindness and compassion to Seniors and children alike. We are extremely Grateful to all of you – the Individuals, families, businesses & foundations that provide Vital resources to Improve the lives of children and adults Now and in perpetuity. Thank you for Genuinely caring about your neighbors.
We wish all of you and your families a happy and healthy Thanksgiving!
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Alvin H. Baum Family Fund
Modeled on the successful Corporate Champion Program we launched in 2020, the Highland Park Community Foundation has launched a Foundation Champion Program to provide the opportunity for private foundations to become our philanthropic partners.
The Alvin H. Baum Family Fund has signed on as HPCF’s first Foundation Champion. Making a five-year commitment at the Platinum level, the Baum Family Fund has generously provided a $20,000/year financial commitment to support the HPCF in addressing unmet needs of the community and expanding opportunities for all Highland Park and Highwood residents.
We are most grateful to the Baum Fund for leading the way and look forward to other foundations adding their support!
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“When a teacher believes in you like Sarah does – she’s like a Mary Poppins. She magically makes it happen.” HPHS parent
We are thrilled to recognize Sarah Douglas as the 2024 recipient of the HPCF Golden Apple Award!
Highland Park Community Foundation established the HPCF Golden Apple Award in 2010 to honor outstanding teachers in the Highland Park public schools. The award rotates among the elementary, middle school, and high school levels of teaching. This year, nominations were accepted for full-time HPHS teachers.
Sarah teaches physical education, adaptive physical education, team sports, and traffic safety for grades 9-12. She is a general education teacher who has stepped into the role that is usually expected of a special education teacher, serving as an inclusion and modification specialist. She not only promotes inclusion but fosters it in a way that helps students accept inclusion as the norm. It is rare for a teacher to be equally valued by all the demographics of a school in the way that Sarah is respected. Sarah has made a tangible, concrete, and lasting impact on the Highland Park High School community. She is a teacher who connects with all her students, motivates them to try and learn new things, generates confidence, inspires them to be better people, and supports them through that process.
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We are deeply grateful for your unwavering support throughout 2024. Your generosity made it possible for us to provide 64 Annual Grants and 11 Recovery Fund Grants that positively impacted thousands of children and adults in Highland Park and Highwood. Click the image below to explore the tangible difference your contributions made in expanding opportunities and addressing unmet needs within our community.
Your continued support plays a crucial role in building a more inclusive and thriving community, enriching the lives of all residents, and strengthening the resources that empower our neighbors to overcome adversity and reach their full potential.
Join us in making a lasting impact.
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As 2025 comes to a close, we want to extend our heartfelt thanks for your incredible support. Your generosity has fueled meaningful progress this year—strengthening local nonprofits, supporting families, and helping us build a stronger Highland Park and Highwood.
Yet even with this strength, conversations with our partners show that many residents are experiencing increasing hardship.
- Families are facing rising childcare costs, housing instability, food insecurity, and increased need for basic essentials.
- Seniors are worried about food insecurity as well.
- Federal, state, and local funding for nonprofits continues to decline, even as needs grow.
- Significant uncertainty surrounds new Medicaid work requirements, changes to the ACA, and other shifts in funding.
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