The Celebration Foundation is an independent
non-profit organization that was established in March of 1996 to
promote and conduct community-building activities in Celebration.
During the first eight years, The Celebration Foundation focused
on the creation and nurturing of organizations and programs that
supported our community building mission within Celebration and
the greater Central Florida community. Several of Celebration’s
civic groups were among the first to receive support from The Celebration
Foundation. Among the most notable are:
The Women’s
Club of Celebration
The Garden Club of Celebration
Celebrators
Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR)
Artisians of Celebration
Maintaining this initial focus, The Celebration Foundation hosted
a number of programs to welcome new residents: Examples of
these initiatives are:
Welcome Program each quarter for new residents
in the community. Community
groups attended and invited new members and make the newest community
members feel welcome. A brief slide show was presented
explaining all the benefits of the town of Celebration, while
all enjoyed refreshments. The event ended with raffled
door prizes for the guests.
A quarterly, fun community-building
event called Lights N’ Lemonade. Residents
from each village volunteered their front porches for two hours
on a Sunday afternoon to serve lemonade and cookies. Invitations
were mailed to all new residents to attend Lights N’ Lemonade
in their village.
Larger in scope and involving the entire town was:
The annual
4th of July Parade, during which Southern Living Magazine snapped
photos for their magazine
The semi-annual Porch & Yard Sale(s). Each spring and fall
there were over 100 residents who participated turning their “trash
into treasure”.
The Great American Pie Festival! The
Celebration Foundation recruited over 300 volunteers to turn
the downtown area into a festival of PIES! From the Pie
Bake-off Contest, to the Children’s
Pie Making Booth; and don’t forget the Never Ending Pie
Buffet…A
good time was had by all.
As the town of Celebration continues to evolve from developer
managed to self-directed, the Foundation also is evolving to support
our mission of community building. Today our strategy is
being implemented through four primary directives.
- Financial investment in other organizations’ community-building
efforts through grant giving.
- Provide a 501 (c) 3 home for appropriate groups to incubate
and grow their community purpose and contribution.
- Remain flexible to change, as community needs change.
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