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Invest Aurora Fund

Established 2020

The Invest Aurora Fund supports the mission and programs of Invest Aurora.

Current Initiative:

Invest Aurora, the City of Aurora’s non-profit economic development office, along with the Aurora Regional Chamber of Commerce, the Aurora Regional Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the Quad County African American Chamber of Commerce are establishing the Restore Aurora Business Relief Program to help businesses clean up and rebuild following the civil unrest that occurred in the region on Sunday, May 31 and Monday, June 1, 2020. The fund will begin accepting financial donations on Tuesday, June 9, 2020, and is expected to start accepting applications from businesses on Wednesday, June 10, 2020.

The Restore Aurora Business Relief Program will provide grants to help those businesses recovering from physical damages to their locations. The grants are intended to offset costs not covered by the businesses’ insurance policies. Businesses in both the City of Aurora and the Village of North Aurora will be eligible to apply. Affected businesses will find the application at InvestAurora.org/Restore as well as through the three chambers of commerce.

“Business development resurgence after the recent civil unrest must be met by Aurora’s joint business community using a concerted, coordinated effort to make Aurora Strong a reality and not just a slogan,” said Sherman Jenkins, Chairman of the Quad County African American Chamber of Commerce.

Fundraising will be administered through the Invest Aurora Fund at the Community Foundation of the Fox River Valley (CFFRV). Community members and other businesses are encouraged to make donations to the fund by clicking the Donate Now button. All donations will be tax deductible as a charitable contribution. The first $5,000 raised will be matched by Invest Aurora. Other companies wishing to match community contributions, should contact Invest Aurora at restore@investaurora.org.

“We understand the difficulty businesses are facing, which is why it is so important that we make the application process as simple as possible for business owners,” said Karina Garcia, president/CEO of the Aurora Regional Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. “Our goal is to distribute grants to damaged businesses as efficiently as possible to help get them through this difficult time.”

“We’ve heard from many businesses and community members over the last week about the challenges they are facing,” said Bryan Gay, president/CEO of Invest Aurora. “Invest Aurora and the three Aurora-based Chambers of Commerce have been hard at work creating a platform to facilitate the community’s eagerness to come together.”

Jessica Linder Gallo, president/CEO of the Aurora Regional Chamber of Commerce added, “We strive to stand with the businesses and the community as One Aurora.”

The emergency in the state of Illinois comes at a time when businesses throughout the region are already suffering as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Not only have local businesses had to deal with the challenges of closing and reopening, they are now dealing with physical damage. The Restore Aurora Business Relief Program will help aid the recovery process.

YEP was a great experience to have in high school. I became a more confident person, someone with a lot more perspective. Coming from a small school, YEP allowed me to branch out into my community, meet students from other schools, and learn about their backgrounds. I made some great friends and still keep in touch with them today.

Abby Vagnoni

YEP Alumni

Being a part of the Community Foundation scholarship committee is the highlight of my year. For many, a scholarship from the CFFRV is the reason they are able to continue reaching for their dreams and changing the future of our world. I hope each recipients knows just how inspirational they are to those of us who are lucky enough to read their stories.

Jessica Breugelmans

Scholarship Committee Member and Board Member

Give your gift of time and see what it means to the people you impact. Helping others is what life is all about.

Neal Ormond

Donor & Fund Advisor

Grant funds from the Community Foundation helped provide updated technology. These upgrades were transformative. By creating new time saving processes, it turned us into a more efficient organization.

Marie Wilkinson Food Pantry

Grantee

Education is important to us. We support causes that touch our lives and align with our values. We believe in paying it forward. We are here for a short time,, and it is the next generation that will take on what we leave behind.

Michelle Emanuel

Donor and Past Scholarship Recipient

YEP has made me realize the importance of being involved in my community, and how to make a difference. There are a lot of problems in the world but if we can do everything that we can to help the world will become a better place. YEP has helped me realize this and encouraged me to help more people in the future.

Madi Porter

YEP Member

I am incredibly grateful for the generosity of the Zari Foundation Scholarship and the Community Foundation in supporting my education. I am majoring in mechanical engineering with a concentration in aerospace engineering at the Rose-Hulman Institue of Technology. In my spare time, I volunteer on campus, in the community and I’m also the principal violist in the symphony orchestra. I hope to make an impact on the next chapter of space exploration by eventually working at a groundbreaking aerospace company such as SpaceX or NASA.

Taytum Newell

Albert M. Zari Scholarship Recipient

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