Forever changed by your generosity
By Sherry Ristau / President and CEO
It seems like only yesterday—and a lifetime ago at the same time—that I was sitting with my colleagues Kelly Thompson and Anne Calder in the Quad Cities Community Foundation office on March 12, 2020, an otherwise uneventful Thursday afternoon were it not for the emerging news about the novel coronavirus.
At the time, I don’t know that any of us fully grasped that our entire community—and world—would be transformed in many ways as a result of this virus.
And yet, our team and board of directors were struck with a feeling of urgency—to take the steps, right away, to do whatever it took to support our community in the coming days, weeks, and months. Ultimately, that meant activating the Quad Cities Disaster Recovery Fund to combat the economic, social, and medical hardship we feared the virus might cause. We activated the fund the very next day with full board support, committing $100,000 to seed it.
As we approach the one-year anniversary of that pivotal moment last March, I can’t help but be filled with gratitude for everything that’s been done by our community. It is a testament to the power of generosity to transform the lives of people forever. I remember well the conversations we had with Matt Mendenhall at the Regional Development Authority, and his board’s decision to add $100,000 to the fund. Rene Gellerman and the United Way Quad Cities board did the same in those early days. With KWQC-TV6 and the Quad-City Times, we started the “Unite Quad Cities” fund drive. Quickly thereafter, individuals and families of all ages and backgrounds gave as well. Within three months, the fund surpassed $1 million in donations—all of which quickly went back out to support the Quad Cities community.
The generosity was astonishing. It still is. And it represents the very best of our community.
The work continues. Here we are, nearly one year later, continuing to raise money, award grants, and meet the ever-shifting needs brought on by this pandemic. To date, the fund has raised nearly $1.8 million and granted more than $1.6 million back out. Some of our most recent grants were awarded to Habitat for Humanity to support a desk project started by community members to build and provides free desks to local students attending school virtually, and to Alternatives for the Older Adult to help senior citizens schedule vaccine appointments. And while the fund is still meeting immediate needs, its purpose is broader, designed to ease the long-term impact of the pandemic, and any other disaster that may come our way.
Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined such wide-ranging challenges being met with such overwhelming perseverance. And yet, in some ways this doesn’t surprise me—generosity is part of the fabric of who we are as a community, and it drives us to transform the region through both good times and bad.
As we welcome spring, I am filled with hope for brighter months ahead. But no matter what those months may look like, no matter the challenges we may face, I know that this community will meet each moment with courage, generosity, and gratitude.
Yes, we are forever changed by this pandemic. Yet we are also forever changed by your generosity.