Gorge Community Foundation

Spotlight Fund - Ruth Jackson Cody Fund

Ruth Jackson Cody was a fourth grade teacher in the 50's and 60's in Hood River. She often took the side of the underprivileged and saw the need for warm clothing for some of the children. She left this fund to help provide for those kinds of children's needs.

Last year the grant from this fund, together with a grant from the Cody Family Fund, was administered by the school district to provide clothing for almost fifty children throughout the school district.

“I know that Ruth would be proud of this use of her legacy,” says her sister-in-law Fran Cody.

Starting Your Own Fund

The most exciting way of giving through the Community Foundation is to start your own fund. A family fund is like having your own foundation, only with none of the work and all of the joy of making grants to worthwhile organizations.

Starting a fund is simple—flexible—fast—easy. These are the steps:

Name your fund.
- A fund is usually named for the donor, donor’s family or as a memorial to a friend or family member.
Decide on the charitable purpose of your fund.
- Our most popular funds are donor-advised funds. This type of fund allows you to participate in the grant-making process each year by suggesting grant recipients.
- You may also choose to dedicate your fund to the support of one or more specific charitable organizations or to a field of charitable interest e.g. performing arts or needy children.
Make a donation to open your fund.
- You can use cash, securities, real estate or other property.
- There is no minimum amount as long as you make a commitment to bring the fund to $5,000 within five years.
Sign a one page document setting up your fund.

That’s all there is to it. Once your fund reaches $10,000, charitable grants will be made annually.

You can find a list of local individuals and families who have established donor-advised funds here and a list of funds started to benefit particular organizations or fields of charitable interest here.