FORT LAUDERDALE — On January 1, the members of the philanthropic Gamma Mu Foundation wrap up three days of events in Greater Fort Lauderdale. “Heat Goes Hollywood” Is the organization’s 13th annual event to help the group’s goal of establishing “a perpetual, philanthropic fund to provide financial assistance for the health, enhancement, and pride of our community.”
The Gamma Mu Foundation, a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt nonprofit, was organized to endow financial grants to organizations and individuals, mostly in rural America, in order to make direct assistance available to people with HIV/AIDS and their families.
The Foundation awards grants to non-profit groups working in America’s rural HIV/AIDS environment, provides graduate-level scholarships to college and university students whose degree programs have a positive influence on LGBT-acceptance in the community-at-large, and advances the establishment of outright, annual, and memorial gifts, and planned giving through wills, charitable trusts, and life insurance assignments.
The Foundation also provides funding through research and public education grants with the goal of making the world a better place for everyone, without regard to a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity.
In all cases, the Foundation looks to make grants to organizations located in rural areas where the need is great and the resources are often very limited. To date, the Foundation has awarded over $1,500,000 to more than 100 organizations: over 90 percent of these awards have been in rural areas.
According to board member John Ellis II, Foundation projects were initially funded by the Board of Directors, but from the beginning, the Foundation’s intention has been to build seed-support through member contributions, and the assistance of concerned members of the community.
For more information, visit gammamufoundation.org.