The Community Foundation is building a stronger community…one passion at a time.
We provide a variety of channels to actively connect donors with nonprofits fulfilling their missions.
Through our Nonprofit Resource Center and programs, the Estate Planning Council of Marion County and the NonProfit Business Council, we provide collaboration among leadership sectors to impact social and cultural change in our community.
The Community Foundation works pro-actively with public/private partners to identify issues that impact Ocala/Marion County and convenes leadership to explore solutions.
The Foundation works closely with financial advisors to serve as a resource for their planned giving clients.
The entire community benefits when donors invest in programs that fuel their passions.
The size of your gift doesn’t dictate the amount of impact you can make in our community. We take the administrative hassles away from your giving and from your family. Let us help you create change today.
From assisting your clients with funds and tax deduction benefits to helping create a lasting legacy for a client with a specific desire for impact, we partner with you to take your client relationships to another level.
We are the go-to resource for the nonprofit community for everything from agency fund management to a nonprofit event calendar, professional development to sample nonprofit resources. We are here for you!
The Arabian Horsemen’s Distress Fund was established in 2005 to assist people within the Arabian horse community during times of unexpected catastrophes, such as barn fires, accidents resulting in significant financial burden, unexpected illnesses, acts of nature, and the like. They need your help to ensure the long-term viability of the fund that has already been crucial to hundreds of people!
The Marion Ballet Collaborative is a youth performing theatre ballet company in Ocala, FL. In 2019, they continued the nearly 40-year iconic holiday tradition of The Nutcracker performances with future plans to expand audition invitations to dance students around the country. They need your help to ensure the show will continue for years to come.
The Boys & Girls Club of Marion County enables all young people, especially those who need them most, to reach their full potential as productive, caring, responsible citizens. Serving children aged 6-18, they focus on academic success, health & wellness and character & leadership.
Arnette House provides safe and effective programs to strengthen youth and families in Marion, Lake, Sumter, Citrus & Hernando Counties. They offer emergency shelter services, individual and group counseling, crisis intervention and referrals to youth and families.
The Early Learning Coalition of Marion County ensures children of the Marion County community have access to quality early learning programs that nurture their learning potential to prepare them for success. The ELCMC provides leadership and fosters partnerships to optimize a quality learning environment for Marion County children through child care, voluntary pre-kindergarten and parent education.
The Marion County Bar Association is committed to helping provide legal assistance to low-income Marion County citizens. Through the MCBA Civil Legal Aid Fund, services can be provided to assist in making sure that all have equal access to justice in Marion County.
The people of Marion County want excellent schools, and through the Public Education Foundation every individual, parent, teacher, businessperson, and community leader can influence the quality of public education in our community. Together, we can make our schools excellent in every way.
The Horse Protection Association of Florida rescues starved, neglected and abandoned horses and rehabilitates them, giving the horses renewed life and a future with the best care. With interest in building a new facility in southern Marion County, the Horse Protection Association seeks support from volunteers and donors to make their dreams reality.
From more services for our nonprofits helping our community’s most disadvantaged to increasing the education of the next generation of givers, from enhancing programs and opportunities for our community’s estate planners to ensuring residents in our community know how to align their passions with their giving, the Community Foundation for Ocala/Marion County remains at the forefront of impacting our community’s needs. We are building a stronger community… one passion at a time.
A science-based educational nonprofit organization, the Howard T. Odum Florida Springs Institute focuses on documenting and protecting Florida’s springs and aquifers to ensure access to clean drinking water for current and future generations. Named in honor of a pioneer of springs science, a Yale graduate, Odum worked in the biology department of the University of Florida in the 1950s and conducted the first comprehensive ecological assessment of Silver Springs.
Give the gift of reading and literacy to students in the Marion County community of Ft. McCoy through the Mary DeCasper Memorial Fund. Dollars raised help keep her legacy and love of reading going among the generations of Ft. McCoy School students through Ms. DeCasper’s Reading Den, a cozy and inviting reading space for students in the School. Additional funds purchase books in Mary’s memory for children to take home.
The Edwards Construction family foundation fund builds on their family’s legacy of giving back to the communities they serve by helping individuals with unmet needs who lack the resources to meet those needs. The charitable focus areas include individuals in the construction industry, individuals needing construction resources and scholarship opportunities to advance a career in or enter the construction industry workforce.
Collegium Sanctorum Angelorum will be a residential, four-year college that will provide a liberal arts education that is faithful to the intellectual, moral, spiritual, and liturgical traditions of the Roman Catholic Church, and a formation in Catholic living, at affordable rates for tuition, room and board.
Through Youth Philanthropy in Action, we are educating Marion County middle school Students about philanthropy. Since 2012, members of the NonProfit Business Council have taught nearly 800 students the YPIA curriculum in public and private middle schools throughout Marion County with $17,000 in grants given to nonprofits. This innovative program is training tomorrow’s philanthropists how to find their passions early, so they can give back to the community now.
Lives changed and lives saved. Guardian Angels Medical Service Dogs work through their incredible dogs to make a difference in the lives of those struggling with a variety of disorders including: PTSD, Traumatic Brain Injury, Seizure Disorders, Mobility Issues and more.
In May 2019, phase one of the Ocala Skate Park opened to rave reviews, but the entire park dream is not yet complete. This fund helps finish what’s been started by providing a full-fledged park for the estimated 22,000 skateboarders in Marion County.
