In Honor of Donna Haerr

In 1988, Donna Haerr was appointed the first executive director of the Peoria Area Community Foundation, now known as Community Foundation of Central Illinois. Donna passed in March 2023 and a beautiful quote from her obituary read "Donna was a born leader with a vision, she dedicated her passion to developing a community through the arts, cultures and values."

When Donna Haerr became our first executive director, the operation could best be described as “catch-as-catch-can.” The Foundation had no endowment, had never awarded a grant, and had exactly $2,540.39 cash on hand.

Getting enough money just to operate was not easy. The annual operating budget of $50,000 was supposed to cover Donna’s salary, utilities, development of promotional materials, use of the copying machine, postage, everything. She had to be creative and resourceful.

As Donna recalled in "20 Years of Giving-A History of the Community Foundation of Central Illinois, written by Barbara Mantz Drake, “My first year I spent Thanksgiving Eve in the office working on the accounting module that I established myself and it was pretty awful.” New Year’s Eve was similarly celebrated.

According to Donna, much of her time was spent getting “the word out to the community just what a community foundation was. People were not going to give to something they didn’t know or understand.” Circumstances began to change for the better in 1989 when Caterpillar Inc. awarded the Foundation a $500,000 grant. The company specified that the money endow the Community Leadership Fund, with no restrictions placed on the nature of future grants from the fund.

When Donna retired in February 1995, the Foundation’s endowment stood at $1.6 million. It managed 34 funds and had distributed more than $738,000 in grants to the community.

Donna’s own generosity is one of the reasons the Community Foundation of Central Illinois has survived and thrived since those challenging early days. Four funds, the Alvin and Donna Haerr Family Performing Arts Fund, the Alvin and Donna Haerr Fine Arts Scholarship Fund, the Community Foundation of Central Illinois Administrative Endowment Fund, and the Women's Fund at the Community Foundation all owe their existence to our first executive director.

Donna was a visionary leader whose legacy inspires us to continue serving our community with dedication to her philanthropic ideals. As we carry on her vision, we remain forever grateful for Donna's contributions and the impact she made on our Foundation.

Welcome New Board Members!

As May unfolds, we find ourselves in the midst of yet another bustling month at CFCI. May brings many events such as Women to Women Leader Luncheon and our annual meeting. With the arrival of spring, we also welcome new board members.

First and foremost, we want to recognize and thank Don Forrest, CFCI's immediate past chair, for his hard work and dedication to the board over the past two years.

At the May 4th board meeting, Chris Setti was elected as the new board chair, succeeding his previous role as vice chair. Chris has demonstrated his dedication to the organization in various ways, attending many events and being part of the finance committee.



In addition to Chris's election, the board announced the addition of three new members:



• Ryan Beasley, Global Medium Wheel Loader Product Development Manager at Caterpillar Inc.
• Joshua Gunn, President and CEO with the Peoria Chamber of Commerce
• Julie Schifeling, Manager of Grants and Government Relations, Easterseals Central Illinois

We welcome these talented individuals to our team and look forward to working with them to advance the mission of our organization.

2023 Women to Women Leader Luncheon Award Winners. Left to right: Autumn Gray, Megha Garg, Hedy Elliott-Gardner, Nikki Romain, Alice Driscoll, Emily Jacob-Rudesill and Lorene King

The Women’s Fund of the Community Foundation of Central Illinois (CFCI) honored six local women and a young woman who is a high school senior at the Women to Women Leader Luncheon Awards held at the Par-A-Dice Hotel in East Peoria on May 10, 2023

A central Illinois tradition, the Leader Luncheon Awards began in 1978. During the past 45 years, nearly 300 women have been recognized with Leader Luncheon Awards which recognize local women who best exemplify excellence in their chosen professions and a commitment to the success of other women. 

This year's winners are as follows:

·        Young Woman's Service Award: Autumn Gray

·        Emerging Leader Award: Megha Garg

·        Education Award: Hedy Elliott-Gardner

·        Arts Award: Nikki Romain

·        Healthcare/Wellness Award: Alice Driscoll

·        Business/Professions Award: Emily Jacob-Rudesill

·        Community Service Award: Lorene King

The funds raised by the Women to Women Leader Luncheon will, in part, help grow the Women’s Fund endowment and provide grants to local programs and causes that strengthen families and communities by empowering women and girls.

The 2023 Leader Luncheon Awards were sponsored by: