Community Foundation Celebrates Shelby County Grant Recipients
The Community Foundation proudly celebrated the Shelby County recipient of the Community Foundation’s 2025 Community Grant program, funded in part by the Shelby County Endowment Fund. These grants support nonprofit organizations that strengthen the community and improve the lives of local residents.
The 2025 grant recipient is:
• Shelby County Cares
– Feed the Farmer Project
Farmers and farm families experience high stress during harvest, often leading to anxiety, depression, and isolation, known risk factors for suicide. In Shelby County and the broader Northeast Missouri region, this burden affects farmers, their families, and other supporters in caregiving roles.
The Feed the Farmer Project responds to this need by delivering hot meals and printed mental health and suicide prevention resource packets directly to farms, offering practical relief and emotional support. By promoting early awareness of mental health concerns and connecting families to help before crisis occurs, this initiative contributes to suicide prevention while strengthening resilience in Missouri’s rural agricultural communities. As Certified FarmResponse providers, Shelby County Cares is committed to delivering evidence-based, culturally relevant outreach.
“We are honored to support Shelby County Cares and their vital mission of suicide prevention,” said Nathan Hillard, Shelby County Fund Council chair. “This grant will help strengthen our community’s resilience. We hope we can make a meaningful difference in people’s lives and show that there are many of us here who care about everyone.”
“The Shelby County Endowment Fund allows local generosity to create lasting impact,” said Kent Embree, Program Officer at the Community Foundation. “Supporting projects like Feed the Farmer shows how we can work together to care for our neighbors today while building a stronger tomorrow for Shelby County.”
The Shelby County Endowment Fund is a permanently endowed charitable fund exclusively for the benefit of Shelby County. Gifts made to the fund are invested for growth and grants are made from the interest earned. Anyone can make a gift to grow the Shelby County Endowment Fund at any time. Gifts to the Community Foundation for the Shelby County Endowment Fund are tax-deductible as allowed by law. The Community Foundation is a not-for-profit organization with 501(c)(3) status.
About the Shelby County Endowment Fund
In July 2023, volunteer members of the Shelby County Fund Council announced an opportunity to build a charitable endowment and receive a $15,000 match from the Community Foundation. The fundraising goal was met in March 2024, and the fund’s first grants were awarded in August 2024. A local, volunteer County Fund Council reviews grant applications and recommends grant funding.
The Shelby County Endowment Fund is a way to secure local assets to support charitable needs and opportunities in Shelby County permanently. It promotes community-based philanthropy and generates resources that advance the quality of life for current and future generations in Shelby County.
