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History of the Coral Gables Community Foundation
September 1991
The Coral Gables Community Foundation (CGCF) was established
by community leaders with the mission of fostering
public initiatives that enhance the quality of life
for people living and working in the "City Beautiful".
1992
By the close of its second year of operation, the Foundation
had raised more than $200,000.00 and started awarding
its first grants. A Coral Gables High School honor
student, The Learning Experience School for Handicapped
Children, Coral Gables High School, and New Theatre,
Inc. were among the first to benefit from the Foundation's
efforts.
1994
Grants were awarded to such organizations as the Coral
Gables Symphony and Opera, Fairchild Tropical Gardens,
the Coral Gables Garden Club and more. The Ralph V.
Moore Scholarship was created and since that time has
given more than $12,000 in scholarships to Coral Gables
students. Through the flexibility of the community
foundation, everything from educational activities
and vision screening to city beautification and youth
programs has been supported. In a move to both increase
public awareness of the Foundation and to grow its
endowment base, the Board of Directors hired its first
Executive Director, Gloria Burns, on October 1, 1994.
1995
The first Foundation quarterly newsletter was mailed
to 3,000 residents and businesses in February 1995.
In March that year some of the grant awards went to
Coral Gables based Florida Shakespeare Festival, Project
Real Life (to support a baseball program for children),
CAP of Dade County (for scholarship funding for a Gables
student), UM Volunteer Services (for Fun Day for mentally
challenged children), Coral Gables Symphony & Opera,
Coral Gables High School, & Switchboard of Miami
(Senior Services).
On June 15, 1995, the Foundation's Board voted to change the name of the Foundation to Coral Gables Community Foundation in order to better describe its purpose and to distinguish it from a private foundation. With a new logo and general information brochure designed by Adam Fullerton, the Foundation had a great new look. Through the summer and fall of 1995, the Foundation received gifts of real estate, art and cash. In October, the Foundation's first permanent donor advised fund was established, the Jose and Mirta Calvo Endowment Fund. Other scholarship endowment funds continued to grow.
1996
In the Spring of 1996, the Foundation moved to a new
home, courtesy of First Union Bank to Suite 110 at
2511 Ponce de Leon Blvd., in downtown Coral Gables.
The Foundation remained in that location until renovations
forced a move. Commerce Bank then offered a suite of
offices on the Mezzanine Level of 2199 Ponce de Leon
Blvd. After Commerce Bank's lease was up, the Foundation
moved to the offices of Blaire & Cole, who graciously
offered space at no charge, before relocating to City
offices in the Old Police & Fire Station. The Foundation
also partnered with Ponce de Leon Middle School and
its Youth Environmental Science Club to landscape the
campus. A fundraising campaign was orchestrated by
the Foundation. A special fund was established to receive
donations and 500 new plants, as well as new sod, were
installed at the campus. The Foundation initiated a
campaign to establish a Parks Improvement Fund. It
was successful in assisting the City's Beautification
Committee in their efforts to create a flowering tree
park on an empty parcel of City owned land bordering
Granada and Pisano. This was accomplished through a
private public partnership, which involved a $6,000
contribution through the Foundation from HealthSouth
Doctors' Hospital. Another major project undertaken
in the 1996-97 year was the preliminary study to establish
a way to display history and artifacts in our City
with the assistance and expertise of the leadership
of the Historical Museum of Southern Florida. This
ultimately evolved into the Coral Gables Museum initiative.
In December of 1996, the Foundation received a $10,000
grant to its unrestricted funds from The Calvin and
Flavia Oak Foundation whose board was impressed with
the efforts of Coral Gables Community Foundation to
act as a catalyst to improve our community. Inspired
by the progress of Coral Gables Community Foundation,
the Oak Foundation made a second $10,000 grant in 1997,
and as of December, 2001, the Oak Foundation's funding
totaled $60,000. The Foundation made grants to such
worthy charities as the May Van Sickle Free Dental
Clinic for disadvantaged children, the Junior Orange
Bowl Caroling Competition, Charlee Program and Coral
Gables Symphony & Opera, Inc.
1997
A four-year college scholarship was awarded from the
Jose and Mirta Calvo Endowment Fund, to a fourth grader
who competed in an educational competition, which involved
writing an essay and identifying flags on Ponce de Leon
Boulevard. In June of 1997, the Rotary Club of Coral
Gables established a $50,000 endowment fund with the
Foundation to support programs and services that benefit
youth, elderly and disabled in our community. A $20,000
match from the Coral Gables Community Foundation helped
the Rotarians reach that $50,000 fund level. During this
time, several other individuals and organizations have
seen the advantages of creating endowments with the Foundation.
Magnus Liljedahl, who established the Agneta Liljedahl
Ballet Scholarship Fund, has already awarded more than
$10,000 in scholarships. Liljedahl created another fund,
Team Paradise Fund, to help support sailing programs
for the blind and disabled. The Junior Orange Bowl Committee
has created a general fund, while Coral Gables Junior
Woman's Club has also begun setting aside funds for special
projects.
2001
Thanks to the Executive Director's Fund that was created
by Kirk Landon in 2001, the Foundation's outreach to
individuals and charitable groups expanded.
2002
The Foundation's elder transportation project, Gran Tran,
moved forward and was taken over by Little Brothers
Friends of the Elderly. Since that time, they have
acquired a new van, great volunteers and are serving
the transportation needs of more than 100 seniors.
Mayor Don Slesnick and Commissioner Bill Kerdyk, Jr.
both created new funds with the Foundation and set
a great example for others with a philanthropic intent.
Since that time, many new funds have been created as
donors have realized the ease with which a fund can
be established and the help the Foundation affords
when making gifts to our community.
Ongoing Initiatives
Parknership is one of the most successful initiatives
in which Coral Gables Community Foundation plays a
role. An outgrowth of a Parks Improvement Fund started
as a grassroots effort to make improvements to Jaycee
Park, this private/public project, Parknership, raises funds to renovate
city parks and buy additional green space. The City of
Coral Gables has agreed to match the first $100,000 raised
in this effort with no less than a one for one match. Thus
far, this fund has raised more than $1,000,000, facilitated
the creation of a new park with proceeds from the sale
of $400,000 in stock donated by Robert J. Fewell, started
funding renovations for various parks and helped fund the
restoration of the fountains on Granada and Coral Way.
The Parknership Committee spearheaded a landscaping project
at Coral Gables High a portion of which was completed in
time to for the school's 50th birthday celebration, several
years ago. Other initiatives included the effort to preserve
archives and the creation of the Raul Valdes Fauli Archives
Fund. This Fund goes hand in hand with the Museum initiative
and will help once the Museum is ready to catalogue archival
documents. The creation of the Coral Gables Museum is now
becoming a reality after many years of planning. In fact,
that project forced the Foundation to move again from the
Old Police and Fire Station, as plans to build on that
site were being made. The Foundation, while still involved
in the Coral Gables Museum, has spun the Museum off from
the Foundation's umbrella and has created its own board
of directors. In 2005, the Coral Gables Museum acquired
approval for its own 501 (c) (3). It promises to be a Museum
that will make us all proud and the community has many
donors to thank for that initial support, in particular,
Kirk Landon, who donated $250,000 through the Coral Gables
Community Foundation to push this along. Next on the horizon
is the creation of a Senior Citizen Center, another project
for which Kirk Landon is offering financial support through
the Foundation. As soon as a site can be found, the Foundation
looks forward to helping the City bring that to fruition.
As government funding is being cut at all levels, the Coral
Gables Community Foundation will become increasingly important
in addressing the growing needs of our city, such as the
Senior Citizen Center, tree canopies, open green spaces,
parks, and other social and cultural programs and activities.
Coral Gables Community Foundation intends to be there to
meet these needs for the future.
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