In 1998, city officials, school district administrators, and community leaders created the Estacada Community Foundation (ECF), to provide a charitable organization to support City, School and community efforts. Envisioned as an umbrella organization for local groups, the ECF was expected to consolidate volunteer efforts to build and strengthen our local community through charitable giving. Instead of investing time and money in creating separate nonprofit organizations, community groups could now focus on their projects.
By creating an endowment fund that would disperse earnings to community organizations, prudent investing could multiply local dollars. Funds would be dedicated solely for the Greater Estacada community.
Donations began with an initial gift of $ 124,000 from Watch Our Waves, an organization that decided to disband. After just ten years, the wisdom of the ECF’s founders is evident with the original seed money more than doubling. Additionally, at least 10% of earnings have been granted to local groups for community projects each year.