FY25 Letter from the President

The number 40 often symbolizes a time of preparation, transformation, and renewal — a turning point before a new phase begins.

In 2025, we celebrate such a time.

Forty years ago, our founders dedicated themselves to preparing the way for a community foundation in Abilene. They wanted to build confidence within the community that this organization could support Abilene then, and remain adaptable enough to grow and evolve through the decades.

In a 10-year anniversary piece entitled “Touching Tomorrow,” Dr. Jess Fletcher wrote, “The most optimistic of the founders’ dreams would not have encompassed results that far-reaching.”

In our first decade, we distributed more than $10 million toward charitable causes.

Now, 40 years later, that dream has expanded beyond what even our founders could have imagined. Because of the support of our donors and community, we’ve now granted and administered more than $216 million in lifetime grantmaking.

These gifts, whether from unrestricted funds, donor-advised funds, scholarships, or awards from one of our competitive grant cycles, have transformed the Foundation into more than just a funding source. We have become an active partner, a convener, and a trusted resource for our community.

Dr. Fletcher’s reflection on our early years offered a foundation for the future — a future filled with “life-changing gifts and grants.”

While our annual report reflects the past fiscal year, it also pays special tribute to the many moments and milestones in between.

Featured in the report is a timeline of our history. A record recognizing the visionaries who, as Dr. Fletcher said, “laid the foundation for touching tomorrow.”

At our 2010 annual luncheon, Joe Canon shared a familiar Latin phrase: tempus fugit. Time flees, time flies.

How true that is now, after 40 years, and how true it will be as we look ahead to year 50 and beyond.

The times will change, but our purpose remains the same: to be here for our donors, for our nonprofits, and for our community — forever and always.