LACF Executive Director Steve Laurent is the featured speaker at the Feb. 14 Kiwanis Club meeting. Courtesy/Kiwanis

Kiwanis News:

Los Alamos Community Foundation (LACF) Executive Director Steve Laurent was the featured speaker at the Feb. 14 Los Alamos Kiwanis Club meeting at Trinity on the Hill.

Laurent shared that the mission of LACF is “To build enduring philanthropy to empower our community’s nonprofit organizations.”

The key word is “enduring”. LACF holds several endowment funds for the benefit of local organizations and the community. Donations to funds are invested by LACF in order to generate continuing revenue that is given out as grants to local nonprofit organizations.

In addition, LACF supports local nonprofits in a variety of ways:

• The Nonprofit Training Program provides training and workshops focused on increasing nonprofit capacity and improving administrative efficiency and oversight;
• The Health Providers Roundtable convenes monthly and brings together local health care providers to share information, ideas and support for each;
• The Executive Director Roundtable meets regularly to increase collaboration between nonprofit leaders; and
• The Community Philanthropy Series consists of free learning sessions for the public on giving, estate planning, and tax/financial planning.

LACF also is part of a statewide coalition of community foundations collaborating on common issues and overseeing the All Together New Mexico Fund, which provided emergency relief to those impacted by the Cerro Pelado and Hermit’s Peak/Calf Canyon fires.

The Los Alamos Community Foundation is working with local organizations on a shared volunteer management posting site and user portal to be rolled out this spring. It will serve as a place for volunteers to be matched with local opportunities, increasing awareness and volunteering throughout the community.

About the Kiwanis Club of Los Alamos:

The Kiwanis Club of Los Alamos was founded in January 1948. It is the oldest service organization in Los Alamos.

The club is affiliated with Kiwanis International, a worldwide organization that started in Detroit, Mich., in 1915.

Local members take seriously the Kiwanis International Vision, which states, “Kiwanis is a global organization of volunteers dedicated to changing the world one child and one community at a time”.

To learn more about the local Kiwanis Club, visit https://losalamos.kiwanisone.org/Page/10319.