Indian River Community Foundation awarded discretionary grants totaling $405,000 to 15 local nonprofit charitable organizations from its spring 2017 grants cycle. The grants were reviewed by three volunteer grant committees and approved by the Community Foundation’s Board of Directors. “While most of Indian River Community...

[caption id="attachment_2175" align="alignnone" width="750"] Photo Credit: Denise Ritchie[/caption] by Jeff Pickering "Bienvenidos!" This was the welcome I received from Laura Perez, Center Director of RCMA's Children's House as I arrived for a recent site visit. The tour was hosted by Larry Salustro, a long-time volunteer...

[caption id="attachment_2090" align="alignleft" width="400"] Sheri Burns, Randy Arms, Rachel Homan[/caption] [caption id="attachment_2086" align="alignleft" width="400"] Steamroller Ramp[/caption] On April 12, 2017, Indian River Community Foundation took a site visit to Liberty Magnet's Autism Spectrum Disorder(ASD) Program and their sensory room. ASD refers to a range of...

Head, Heart and Hands of Indian River Club distributes 14 grants totaling $105,000. Thirteen local nonprofits received a helping hand from the “Heart” of the Indian River Club community at a poolside reception last Thursday afternoon. The Head, Heart and Hands Community Outreach program, formed...

by Jeff Pickering [caption id="attachment_2024" align="alignnone" width="640"] Jeff Pickering, Joel Pickering, Barbara "Mamie" Merrill, Jason Pickering[/caption] On Monday, my family and I will celebrate the life of Barbara McGillicuddy Merrill who passed away shortly after celebrating her 90th birthday in January.  A Vermont native, "Mamie"...

  [caption id="attachment_2022" align="alignnone" width="2048"] Brett Hall (Executive Director, Mental Health Collaborative), Bob and Ellie McCabe, Jeff Pickering (IRCF CEO)[/caption] Indian River Community Foundation was one of several charitable organizations invited to a Luncheon and Legacies celebration on Friday March 17th to celebrate the end...

On March 14, 2017, Indian River Community Foundation's team took a philanthropy field trip to learn more about the Old Vero Ice Age Site.  The organization is led by a team of dedicated volunteers, and works to preserve and appropriately excavate important Ice Age archaeological and paleontological sites in...

On February 23, the Community Foundation celebrated nine years of successful operation along with clients, Founders, Directors and friends.  Here are just a few examples of how the Community Foundation has used $1.75M in start-up operating capital contributed by Founders between July 1, 2008 through December...

Sparks were flying at IRCF's second "Spark Session" thanks to the energetic participation of Irinia Fernandez (Special Olympics), Iva Powell (Gifford Youth Orchestra), Kelly Sartain (The Buggy Bunch), Hannah Trodglen (Homeless Children's Foundation) and others. This one-hour idea lab was designed to generate ideas about...

Sparks were flying at IRCF's first "Spark Session" thanks to the energetic participation of Judy Lemoncelli (Alzheimer and Parkinson Association of Indian River County), Hannah Trodglen (Homeless Children's Foundation) and Molly Steinwald (Environmental Learning Center).  This one-hour idea lab was designed to generate ideas about how we might...