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Skokie Community Foundation marks $1 million endowment milestone

Village of Skokie Village Board · April 7, 2026

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Summary

The Skokie Community Foundation told the village board it has reached a $1 million endowment milestone and highlighted recent grants supporting local nonprofits and programs, including funding for adaptive fitness and teen mental-health collaborations with the public library.

The Skokie Community Foundation celebrated reaching a $1 million landmark in its endowment during the village board meeting, citing more than a decade of grantmaking to local nonprofit partnerships and programs.

Jim Shipaniak, the foundation’s executive director, said the organization began grantmaking in 2015 and has since funded more than 60 grant projects totaling more than $325,000. “This started in 2014, literally around the dining room table of Jean and Karen Griffin,” Shipaniak said, describing the foundation’s founding and its goal to build a lasting community endowment.

Oona McGiou, the foundation’s current chair, described partnerships with the village and the Skokie Public Library, including recent programs to address vaccine outreach and pandemic relief and a new family event to fundraise toward a second million-dollar goal. The foundation highlighted recent grants: a $2,500 award supporting Shore Community Services’ fitness program in partnership with other providers, and a $5,000 grant to Turning Point Behavioral Healthcare Center to restore a teen mental-health program at the Skokie Public Library.

Why it matters: local philanthropic capacity supplements services for residents with developmental disabilities, mental-health supports for teens, housing repairs for vulnerable homeowners and other community programs. Shipaniak credited village employees, donors and volunteer leaders for sustaining the foundation’s work.

The foundation invited residents to a May 3 Skokie S'mores Walk to continue endowment fundraising and encouraged ongoing civic partnerships. The board thanked the foundation for its work and noted the milestone in the meeting record.