By LOIS KINDLE
Community Foundation Tampa Bay is inviting area nonprofit groups to apply for grants from the newly established George and Mimi Frank Environmental Endowment. The fund was seeded with a donation of $1.055 million by Mimi Frank, of Freedom Plaza, just before she passed away in September. Her husband George had died several years prior.
The endowment was set up to support nonprofit groups whose mission is to benefit the abundant natural resources of the Tampa Bay region.
The foundation has historically funded environmental projects from unrestricted funds under its Community Vibrancy focus area, said Wilma Norton, vice president of community connections. However, the George and Mimi Frank Fund is solely aimed at benefiting the environment, and thus can only be used for that purpose.
“To my knowledge, it’s the first restricted fund of its kind,” she said. “Mimi wanted her money to be used to generate more funds in perpetuity for environmental purposes. And she liked the idea of our adding matching funds to make her gift even larger.”
Through its present Endowment Match Challenge, the foundation gave a matching gift of $250,000 to Mimi Frank’s donation. The challenge provides additional funds when nonprofit organizations or individual donors create a new endowment or add to an existing one.
George and Mimi Frank firmly believed the area’s natural resources should be protected for the benefit of all of the region’s current and past residents.
“Mimi felt we needed to do more to keep environmental projects on the upswing and envisioned a fund that could be used locally,” said Sun City Center attorney Bob Mohr, immediate past president of the CFTB board, noting the endowment could be used to address natural habitat loss in the region.
Examples of past grants funded by the foundation include Tampa Bay Watch, Audubon and the Florida Wildlife Corridor.
Rotating grants from the George and Mimi Frank Environmental Endowment will be awarded by Community Foundation Tampa Bay, with input from its regional councils.
“All of (these) councils have input on projects throughout the foundation’s entire five-county region,” said Karen Lanese, South Shore Council chairwoman since July and a member since 2014. “The Community Foundation of Tampa Bay looks to the regional councils for their knowledge of local nonprofits and specific needs.”
Those interested in applying for one of these grants are encouraged to apply during the foundation’s competitive grants cycle. Letters of intent must be submitted by midnight Nov. 14. For information, visit https://cftampabay.org/grant-application-process/. Questions should be directed to Jessica Scites, director of nonprofit relations, at jscites@cftampabay.org.
Community Foundation Tampa Bay has served the Tampa Bay region since 1990. Since then, through its donors, it has awarded more than $280 million in grants to nonprofit organizations through a total of about 1,200 funds and endowments.
Anyone interested in creating a fund or contributing to an existing one can get information online at www.cftampabay.org or by calling 813-282-1975.
