Photos provided by Valley Outreach, a community-powered nonprofit that provides food, clothing, and support to people who need help. Valley Outreach's mission is to help people move their lives forward through basic needs services and personalized support.
Bruce Holcomb was the kind of board member who would personally measure the Valley Outreach parking lot when it needed to be resurfaced.
“I miss Bruce,” said Jess Hauser, Director of Communications at Valley Outreach, where Bruce served as a board member for nine years and stayed on as an active volunteer for many more. “He was such a smart, thoughtful, kind, strategic human. He was such an asset to Valley Outreach.”
For many years, Bruce encouraged Valley Outreach to open an agency fund at SCVF – a sophisticated option, as he liked to call it. Now called the Valley Outreach Vibrant Future Fund, the agency fund allows donors to make gifts that SCVF stewards. Each year, the fund’s earnings are available to support Valley Outreach, providing a stable, ongoing source of support for the necessary work of helping people move their lives forward through basic needs services and personalized support.
In its 41 years, Valley Outreach has grown to much more than a food shelf, now offering a clothing program, case management, financial assistance and connection to a broad swath of additional community resources. Valley Outreach relies on donations of all kinds, from one-time gifts and annual contributions to volunteer hours, shelf-stable food donations, and clothing items for their thrift store, StyleXchange.
“We served 31,400 individuals last year,” said Director of Development Ed Nelsen. “It’s amazing we were able to meet that need, but it’s also a real concern that 31,400 people needed that help. At the same time, it’s a real joy that our donors and volunteers show up to make this work happen so we can meet that growing need.”
As the need for their services has grown, Valley Outreach has had to get creative. Thanks to Bruce’s vision for the Vibrant Future Fund, they can now offer donors another way to get involved. Before he died in October of 2023, Bruce saw his vision come to fruition.
“It’s difficult for smaller organizations to figure out how to position ourselves for donors in ways they trust and offer them additional ways to give. Especially gifts that will support our work in the future,” said Chief Executive Officer Tracy Maki*. “It was really important for us to have a partner in that work because we’re not the experts, and St. Croix Valley Foundation is. We’re not worried about the investment strategy, we’re not worried about reporting. It’s just baked in and ready to consume, and our donors responded beautifully.”
Valley Outreach has several ideas for ways to use grants from the Vibrant Future Fund in years to come. In a responsive field like human services, the fund could help provide basic needs such as food and clothing; it could help fund additional staff positions, which represent Valley Outreach’s largest expense; or it could be used to invest in a need not yet known. Whatever needs may arise, the long-term, flexible Vibrant Future Fund will be there.
“Donors are thrilled to be able to have this additional vehicle,” said Ed. “They love Valley Outreach and the fact that their gift will have long-term implications. So it’s wonderful for the donor, it’s wonderful for Valley Outreach and ultimately for the future clients that may need it.”
*Tracy Maki is an SCVF board member.
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