The Morris Area Foundation has been given an unexpected boost in granting dollars.

Vice President Curtis Evenson explains an individual wanted to help out the Foundation right now with the hope that will generate more activity in the future. "Which is very unusual, usually we try to endow our funds."

He says this person has committed to matching all grants that the Foundation disbursed this fall. This brought the total dollars put back into the community to $6,000.

Evenson adds another $10,000 could be available through a matching Canada 150 grant via the Community Foundations of Canada. He says the Morris Area Foundation has submitted two projects for the national board to consider.

Meantime, the Morris Area Foundation got its start two years ago with an endowment fund of $3,500. Evenson says today that account sits at $80,000 thanks to a steady stream of dedicated donors, and notes the Board has put a particular emphasis on past residents of the area.

"You start looking at the people who grew up here and moved away and some of them want to contribute back to where it all started, that's really what made you what you are today is how you grew up. I think people realize that and they want to give back and give other people a chance to do as well as they have."

Evenson adds various programs have also helped grow the endowment, including initiatives through the Thomas Sill Foundation. Board members use the interest earned off that principle to distribute grants throughout the community once a year.