🎂Do they make cakes big enough for 100 million candles? We’ve hit a milestone at the John T. Vucurevich Foundation this month—we’ve awarded $100 million in grants! This is more than just a number—it’s a testament to the power of collaboration, the ongoing needs in our community, and the unwavering commitment of our grantees.

How did we get here?

When John T. Vucurevich established this foundation, he made an extraordinary commitment: he provided $110 million upfront to create a fully-funded private foundation. This means that the foundation doesn’t rely on outside donations or fundraising to operate. Instead, John’s initial gift has been carefully invested, and the returns on that investment are what fund our grants year after year. (Think of it like a sourdough starter, it keeps regenerating!) This means that his initial gift will have a far greater impact than a one-time donation ever could.

Thanks to this smart financial recipe, we’ve already “baked” $100 million into our community, and the foundation is still going strong. The original $110 million has grown to $180 million, continuing to generate funds that allow us to keep giving. This means that John’s gift hasn’t just made an impact over the past years—it will continue to support the community for generations to come.

You Tell Us the Best Way to Celebrate!

To mark this $100 million milestone, we want to spend all of 2025 celebrating our grantees and the families they support. But instead of us deciding how to do it, we want to hear from you out there doing the work—our grantees and community partners. What kind of celebration would mean the most to you? Whether it’s hosting events for grantees, sharing grantee success stories as a film festival, or something completely different (Callie’s a fan of a community scavenger hunt), we’re all ears!

Got a cool idea? We’d love to hear it via our handy-dandy survey! We’ll be collecting suggestions for the next few months and will roll out our celebration plan early next year.

We’re excited about what we’ve achieved so far, but we’re even more excited about what’s next. Thanks for being part of this journey!