Grants Distributed to Help Kids, Honor Samantha Otte's Life & Legacy

The grants, totaling an annual fund record of nearly $50,000, were distributed from the Samantha Otte Youth Opportunity Fund with the Community Foundation Serving West Central Illinois & Northeast Missouri at Quincy Teen REACH in the presence of her family and friends.  

The Samantha Otte Youth Opportunity Fund honors the life and legacy of Samantha Otte by helping others. Samantha passed away in March 2000 at age 10 after a liver transplant necessitated by cystic fibrosis. Since the fund was established in late 2000, more than $480,000 has been distributed through grants to support kids in Samantha’s memory.

"These grants today will bring joy, educate, enrich, and open doors of opportunity for area children,” said June Otte, Samantha’s mother. “These grants will impact lives in so many positive ways. We are deeply grateful to all who have made this possible, and we continue to be humbled by the generous community support that allows these blessing in Samantha’s memory.”

The Samantha Otte Youth Opportunity Fund was supported until 2014 by proceeds from the Sammy Fund Weekend fundraising event. In 2015, the Quincy Breakfast Kiwanis Club announced it would continue a Sammy & Kids Golf Outing and donate a portion of the proceeds to the Fund for continued growth. 

“Junior Achievement is excited to receive funds from the Samantha Otte Youth Opportunity Fund. These funds will help us in our efforts to provide life changing financial literacy programming to children in the Quincy Public School System,” said District Manager Taylor Rakers. “Knowledge is power, and the knowledge that Junior Achievement provides allows students to shape their own futures.”

Grants were awarded to the following organizations:

Bella Ease - Teen Reach College Bound program, providing financial assistance for first-generation college students

Birthday Blessings - To serve the physical and emotional needs of approximately 30 foster children in Lewis and Knox Counties

Cheerful Home Child Care & Early Learning Center - Outdoor playground equipment

Cornerstone: Foundations for Families - Comprehensive Youth Services program providing mental health counseling and advocacy services

Covered Bottoms Diaper Bank - Ten Healthy Children campaign

Friends of Bailey Park Initiative - Update and replace playground equipment at Bailey Park in Camp Point, Illinois

Girl Scouts of Central Illinois - Girl Scout Outreach Program and camperships for girls in need of financial assistance

Jackson-Lincoln Swimming Complex - Scholarships for low-income swimmers 

John Wood Community College Foundation - JDUB Academy tuition assistance

John Wood Community College Foundation - Financial assistance for participants in the College for Life Program

Junior Achievement - Financial literacy, entrepreneurship, and work readiness education for K-12 students

Mississippi Valley Council of Boy Scouts of America - Campership and scouting opportunities 

St. Peter Catholic School - Wilhelm Johnson Scholz STEM Lab

Quincy Children’s Museum - Materials for children’s pop-up exhibits

Quincy Community Theatre - Student Theatre Scholarship program

Quincy Public Library - Support of the Mobile Library/Bookmobile funding campaign

Quincy Public Schools - Water therapy services for special needs children

Arts Quincy Society of Fine Arts - Instant Arts program for Adams County students

Quincy Symphony Orchestra Association - Tuition scholarship for low-income participants in Youth Choir and Youth Orchestra and for the purchase of printed music

Transitions of Western Illinois Foundation - Mark 5 Die Cutting Machine and additional materials  

YMCA of West Central Illinois - Quincy Family YMCA - Swim lessons and water safety education for approximately 70 financially challenged Quincy area children

The Community Foundation Serving West Central Illinois & Northeast Missouri builds permanent charitable funds to assist area nonprofits and communities. 

Its mission, “connecting people who care with causes that matter,” is achieved by gathering funds, growing them through investments, then granting to nonprofit organizations, causes or communities that mean the most to its donors.   

Since 1997, the Community Foundation has made more than $12 million in grants. It serves 12-counties: Adams, Brown, Hancock and Pike in Illinois and Clark, Lewis, Marion, Ralls, Pike, Knox, Shelby and Monroe in Missouri.  

The Community Foundation has IRS 501(c)(3) status, and contributions made to the Community Foundation generally qualify for the maximum allowable deductions for income and estate tax purposes.  

For more information, call 217-222-1237, email info@mycommunityfoundation.org or go to mycommunityfoundation.org or www.facebook.com/mycommunityfoundation.