While ICCT works towards building our permanent home on the South Side of Iowa City, we are storing our vital tech equipment, shop supplies and tools, costumes, props, and set materials. We are renting spaces for all of this, and we are hoping to find support from the community to ensure that we can maintain some of the most incredible pieces in our 60+ year collection safely and securely, keep loaning them out to other arts organizations, and rent space for occasional short-term needs like set building.
Every donation will help us to protect our collection, which includes legacy items known throughout the community like the famed chaise lounge, which appears annually in productions all over the CRANDIC area!
Learn more about this organization at www.iowacitycommunitytheatre.org
Each summer, Riverside Theatre's Free Shakespeare programming provides thousands of area families and arts lovers with high-quality professional productions free of charge. Constructed in 2000 in partnership with the City of Iowa City, the 472-seat Festival Stage in Lower City Park is a living tribute to Shakespeare's Globe. Each summer, Riverside's productions provide a fresh spin on one of the Bard's timeless plays, with an emphasis on the belief that "Shakespeare is for Everyone." Putting together a professional production outdoors is no small feat. In addition to a longstanding agreement with Actors' Equity Association for this programming, Riverside employs scores of professional theatre artists from Eastern Iowa and across the country, all of whom are compensated for their work. This ensures that Free Shakespeare is not only a world-class free experience for area audiences, but also an economic driver for arts in Johnson County — made possible through our community's support!
Learn more about this organization at riversidetheatre.org
The Iowa City Jazz Festival brings local, regional, national, and international musicians together to celebrate a uniquely American art form. Past performers have included Dr. Lonnie Smith, Kurt Elling, Jane Ira Bloom, Christian McBride, and Joshua Redman. On our Side Stage, we create performance opportunities for local, and Iowa-based jazz musicians, such as university faculty from Eastern Iowa and young performers beginning their professional careers. This fund will be used to support our performer budget, so that we can maintain a world-class lineup on our stages.
By supporting this fund, you also believe that everyone in our community should be able to enjoy this event. Summer of the Arts believes in arts access and the transformative power of music: everyone should be able to experience this, no matter what.
Learn more about this organization at summerofthearts.org
At The Englert, we believe in the power of the arts to inspire and activate positive community growth through the arts. Our lecture series brings together renowned experts, activists, artists, and scholars to foster critical conversations and community engagement. We'll explore various topics encompassing social, racial, economic, gender, and environmental justice. By examining the intersections of these issues, we aim to challenge conventional narratives and offer multifaceted perspectives that promote holistic understanding.
Your donations will cover speaker fees, event production, and promotional activities, ensuring these events remain free and accessible to the public. Investing in this project means supporting a future where diverse perspectives are celebrated and critical issues are addressed through the transformative power of the arts. Join us in making a lasting impact on our community.
Learn more about this organization at englert.org
Each year, we fundraise to ensure all K-8 ICCSD students have access to unique, high-profile fine arts experiences. We work closely with our incredible Any Given Child community partners to make this possible.
With your help in 24-25:
Every Kindergartener will visit the Iowa Children's Museum.
Every First Grader will attend an acting workshop and musical production at the Englert.
Every Second Grader will experience ballet at the James Theatre.
Every Third Grader will explore the Stanley Museum of Art.
Every Fourth Grader will take in the UI Symphony Orchestra at the Voxman and attend a FilmScene Animation Workshop.
Every Fifth Grader will have an Art in Nature lesson during their week at School of the Wild.
Each Sixth Grader will take part in a Theater and Improvisation workshop with the Coralville Center for Performing Arts.
Our Seventh Graders will learn about filmmaking through a visit to FilmScene.
And every Eighth Grader will take in a performance at Hancher.
Learn more about this organization at iccsdfoundation.org
As part of our mission to help Iowans better understand international issues and foster global engagement, we work to make internship opportunities available each academic year for university students who are passionate about international affairs and committed to promoting understanding and cooperation through high-quality educational programs, community outreach, and engagement.
Your support will help us fund three internship opportunities for the 2023-24 academic school year, allowing students to connect with leaders in their field while developing professional experience supporting weekly programs, outreach and communications efforts, and making an impact through community engagement and advancement of our international topics and speakers.
For 40 years, ICFRC has brought expert speakers to members of the Iowa City community to explore topics and issues affecting our local and global community while engaging with each other during weekly programs throughout the school year.
Learn more about this organization at icfrc.org
This annual free event held the last weekend of February celebrates writing for and by students. It offers the chance for hundreds of children and their families to hear from published authors about their work and engage in fun activities that promote literacy and storytelling. More important is the opportunity to champion writing by the children of our community. Your support will help to defray the costs of bringing authors to Iowa City to present at the festival, the costs of renting spaces to host our events, and the costs associated with presenting and awarding the writing of dozens of area students. These efforts help to identify and encourage talented young writers, providing a platform for creative self-expression. Encouraged by this recognition, students apply themselves more to their reading and writing in school and beyond. Iowa City takes writing seriously, but for our youngest readers and writers, One Book Two Book offers a fun weekend for exploration and growth.
Learn more about this organization at www.iowacityofliterature.org
The Corriell Nature Preserve is a special place that has an oxbow, sand prairie, sedge meadow, and extensive beaver dam. The land is located on the Mississippi Flyway, an essential corridor for over 300 species of migratory birds as they make their way from breeding grounds in Canada to their wintering grounds in Central and South America. Birds like the great blue heron and sandhill crane rest and feed at Corriell Nature Preserve.
Bur Oak is requesting funds to build a bird blind near the wettest part of the land at Corriell, the beaver dam. Currently, when people walk up to the beaver dam they can scare away the birds that are there. A bird blind will allow people to observe, watch, and photograph birds with minimal disturbance to the birds themselves, thus mitigating some degree of human impact on the wildlife. Bur Oak will use the bird blind for educational purposes as more people explore the space through tours, school visits, and community youth program visits.
Learn more about this organization at buroaklandtrust.org
The RARE Group, an all volunteer, non-profit raptor rehabilitation and education organization located in Iowa City, is requesting support to purchase a refurbished autoclave. The autoclave will be used to sterilize on-site medical instruments, including surgical packs, used in the treatment of (wild) raptors. Currently, we collaborate with a veterinarian practice. About once a month, volunteers transport equipment needing to be sterilized to this veterinarian practice. When sterilized, we pick up the equipment. This local vet generously donates this service; but understandably, our needs are secondary to their equipment sterilization needs. The turn-around time varies but is approximately two weeks. The delivery, transport, and occasional delay is a significant burden to RARE's mission. This is particularly true with respect to surgical packs since RARE has a limited number of these expensive instruments and it is not possible to know how many might be needed in any given day.
Learn more about this organization at theraregroup.org
ChildServe’s mission is to partner with families to help children with special healthcare needs live a great life. Due to long wait lists, we are expanding. Philanthropic funds will provide therapy resources, sensory supplies, and equipment necessary to expand services and increase access to care for hundreds of Johnson County families.
ChildServe is one of a kind in Iowa, offering clinical, home and community-based services to children with special healthcare needs. Children served have developmental delays, disabilities, chronic medical conditions, mental health needs, injuries and other special healthcare needs. Services provided include physical, speech, occupational and mental health therapies, autism services, including specialized weekday care, as well as respite, psychology, concussion clinic, developmental clinic, and more.
By making a gift to ChildServe, you are helping improve access to life-changing care for children with special healthcare needs in our community.
Learn more about this organization at childserve.org
We are looking for support for our diabetes education program. $10,000.00 will provide 6 months of comprehensive education and behavioral support including Spanish language one-on-one health education and general support for changes which improve patient well-being and ability to self-manage their diabetes. The Diabetes Educator supplements the routine care and medications and supplies for approximately 400 patients each year.
Having a diabetes educator/education program is a key support for patients as they learn to self-monitor make changes in diet, expand exercise habits, monitor glucose levels, adjust medication dosages and intervals, monitor foot health and blood pressure, and cope with the overall stress of living. Thank you for supporting this invaluable program!
Learn more about this organization at freemedicalclinic.org
During the pandemic, NAMIJC began offering Remote Peer Support services. This allowed our clients to talk one-on-one to a trained Peer Support Specialist, someone with lived experience with mental illness, over the phone or Zoom. Our staff help clients develop coping skills, get connected to resources, and just overall provide emotional support. These services have been particularly important for homebound individuals and people with social anxiety who don't feel comfortable visiting our center in-person. We are also able to offer Remote Peer Support to individuals living in rural areas with limited access to other services. Many of our clients have called these services "life changing" and are grateful for the social interaction that brightens their day. We are seeking support to continue this vital service to individuals in our community who struggle with mental illness.
Learn more about this organization at namijc.org
Since 1993, The Agape Cafe at Old Brick, has been a treasured resource in our community. The Agape Café’s weekly breakfast provides, along with a healthy and delicious meal, the equally fundamental atmosphere of respect.
Guests experience a restaurant-like atmosphere where they can order from our menu, including specials. We serve 80-100 meals each Wednesday morning. We source donated food through our partners at Table to Table, HACAP, Bruegger’s bagels and more. We also offer a groceries-to-go table and health information services in partnership with the University of Iowa College of Nursing.
And we buy food – lots of it! We spend an average of $122 a week buying groceries. The Cafe is funded primarily by people just like you. We welcome your contribution and know that every dollar counts. We invite you to stop by for breakfast some Wednesday morning from 7:30-9:30 and witness for yourself the love and dignity that is known as the Agape Cafe. Thank you!!
Learn more about this organization at agapecafe.org
We are a group of volunteers who hand make items for preemie babies at UIHC, including hats and booties for holidays and linens for the NICU. Nurses continually request bright, colorful bedding to make the NICU happier for the parents, babies, and themselves. They have very little control, so being able to choose something bright and cheerful or something to match their nursery at home really brings a smile to the parents’ faces. Therefore, our first big initiative is to resupply bed linens. Our goal is to raise $1,000 through to purchase material for these bed linens - flat sheets, fleece pads, fleece wraps, and developmental hearts to cover the smallest babies' eyes. Thank you for helping us serve our smallest angels!
Learn more about this organization at facebook.com/share/wRSV6ZpFWfQyJN88/
Investing in Marketing is a must in order to compete in an overstimulated world. Non-profits are at a disadvantage competing for the attention of the consumer market, due to lack of marketing dollars. Non- profits are struggling to meet the rising demand, we MUST grab the attention of our community, tell our story and express our needs. Investing in growing the capacity of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Johnson County (BBBSJC) will allow us to serve more young people in need of, and who desire a mentor. Not only can marketing help us recruit desperately needed volunteers, but also help leverage the generosity of the community to support us in other ways, financially, partnership development and direct support to our youth and families. By leveraging Over-The-Top (OTT) and Connected TV (CTV) marketing strategies, we can tap into powerful technologies to reach our target audience in engaging and impactful ways.
Learn more about this organization at bbbsjc.org
Cakes From The Heart partners with community organizations to help those with financial barriers celebrate their special occasions with unique, homemade, and personalized cakes or cupcakes. These funds will help offset volunteers' out of pocket expenses, pay insurance, build up marketing, and social media platform. The volunteer bakers already purchase their own cake ingredients, pans, cupcake papers, decorations, etc. In Johnson County, we are growing and will serve almost 200 people in this fiscal year. Thank you for considering us!
Learn more about this organization at facebook.com/cakesfromtheheartiowa
In partnership with United Action for Youth, CommUnity Crisis Services will begin offering youth crisis stabilization services in 2024. The 12-bed property will fill a critical gap in our community by providing 3-10 day stays for crisis stabilization, and 21-day stays for homeless, trafficked, or runaway youth. While in residence, youth aged 11-17 will have access to onsite counseling, case management, therapeutic groups, and other programming. The farm currently includes a horse, a llama, pigs, goats, chickens, and other winged friends. We are seeking to add more animals to provide increased therapeutic benefits for youth utilizing the crisis stabilization services. For people living with mental illness, animal-assisted therapy offers an opportunity to make a transformative impact. Your support of this project can provide changes in their personality, behavior, and physical health, as well as affect their social interactions and cognitive, psychological, and emotional state.
Learn more about this organization at builtbycommunity.org
Your generous support will help us get closer to completing our Regional Hub’s renovations, including a state-of-the-art commercial kitchen dedicated to empowering food entrepreneurs. This collaborative space will offer essential resources, services, and programming designed to inspire and support the next generation of culinary entrepreneurs.
Underrepresented food entrepreneurs face unique challenges, such as high rent costs, limited access to professional kitchens, and a lack of supportive networks. By providing a fully equipped commercial kitchen and comprehensive support, we aim to level the playing field and close the wealth and opportunity gaps in our communities.
Your contributions will significantly advance our renovation efforts and support entrepreneurial programming. These efforts will address critical barriers outlined in our Inclusive Economic Development Plan, fostering a more inclusive and prosperous community.
Join us in making this transformative project a reality.
Learn more about this organization at dreamcityia.org
Houses into Homes provides gently-used beds, furniture, and other items for families and individuals in Johnson County, who are exiting homelessness, domestic violence, and other crisis situations. After our delivery, residents can enjoy a good night’s sleep, a meal with family and friends, and comfortable time together doing homework or relaxing. Additionally, people who have received items from Houses into Homes feel valued and cared for by their community. Funds will support intake, storage, and delivery of items.
In an interview, one respondent said, “[It’s] not just another roof over our heads. This doesn't feel like another place to live for my son, he considers this home. This is the first time that he's been able to do that in nine years. They helped us so much.”
One recipient told us, “The furniture is just wonderful but what was even more wonderful was the relationships that I had in the process of getting everything I needed, just great furniture but even better people.”
Learn more about this organization at housesintohomes.org
Iowa City Free Lunch Program is an independent 501c3 non-profit organization that serves free midday meals, six days a week, between noon and 1pm. Our mission statement is “an open door, a full plate, no questions asked.” Our "no questions asked" policy means that anyone who comes into our dining room can access food without barriers All of our meals are nutritious, containing at least two servings of fruit and vegetables. In 2023 we served 38,014 meals and that number is rising, with over 20,000 meals already served in the first six months of 2024. Our neighbors are struggling and FLP is an important source of nutrition for them. A donation to FLP helps cover the cost of food, our rented kithchen and dining room, dining supplies, kitchen equiptment, and administrative needs. It also helps cover the cost of our staff–two part-time directors and one weekend and holiday custodian–who keep FLP's doors open and make sure our volunteers and guests have everything they need.
Learn more about this organization at iowacityfreelunch.org
Shelter House's Fresh Starts program provides supported employment for tenants in our Permanent Supportive Housing Programs. With contracts throughout the county, the Fresh Starts crew provides cleaning services for local businesses, nonprofits, and government entities. Our supported employment model offers opportunity for individuals who cannot maintain traditional employment due to serious and persistent mental illness diagnoses. Tenants who elect employment with Fresh Starts work as part of a team, earn income, and are provided a routine and sense of accountability that can support mental health recovery.
The Fresh Starts Case manager supervises employees, providing vocational direction while ensuring employees receive the trauma-informed care required to allow them to maintain employment.
As the Fresh Starts 12-passenger van inches toward its 20th birthday, it is time to for replacement. Help Shelter House secure a newer, reliable van to support our Fresh Starts employees.
Learn more about this organization at shelterhouseiowa.org
UAY has been supporting youth experiencing homelessness for decades. These young people often “hide in plain sight”. They are difficult to locate and, often times, hesitant to engage. Our housing program can help but is limited by the number of units we have available, and can’t provide immediate help to a young person in crisis. However, UAY’s new federally funded Street Outreach program will increase our ability to interact with and locate youth you are experiencing homelessness but are afraid or ashamed to reach out. Providing these youth with Safety and Care Kits allows us to build rapport and help ensure that some basic needs are met. These kits include personal care items, first aid kits, flashlights, snacks, resource information, and seasonally appropriate clothing items. It is a small step that can mean the difference between life and death for youth who are experiencing housing insecurity. UAY expects to hand out 200 of these kits in the next year.
Learn more about this organization at unitedactionforyouth.org
