By Jeff Baldus

Austin Area Foundation executive director

If you wanted to make a difference in Austin in 2014, now’s the time.

The end of the year is a time of reflection, as well as a time to dream about the future.

We at the Austin Area Foundation are excited to share with you how we continue to support the community. The Foundation invites you to be a part of our reinvention that started this last year — the year when we celebrated the hiring of our first executive director and, in 2015, will mark 12 years of support for the Austin community.

The Foundation currently provides grants to local organizations including The Salvation Army, Austin Symphony Orchestra, Austin’s high school band, the Hormel Institute and Matchbox Children’s Theatre along with many others. We invite you to contact us if you are interested in learning more about how you can create a donor-advised fund. Many families find this to be a wonderful way to honor the memory of a loved one or create a family legacy.

We are excited with the creation of a “Basic Needs” endowment fund. Created in a response to the economic downturn, the Basic Needs Fund addresses critical food, shelter and other basic needs. Food, shelter and other critical needs should not be on anyone’s wish list. Unfortunately this is true for too many individuals and families within the Austin area. The demand for such basic needs has put a strain on local nonprofits as they too have struggled to meet the increasing demand with their limited financial resources. Your Austin Area Foundation has created this fund to help those nonprofits address urgent food, shelter and basic needs that have grown over the past few years.

Please consider keeping your end-of-year charitable gift right here in the community by donating to the Austin Area Foundation today. You may also choose to make your donation in someone else’s name as your gift to them. A special card will be mailed to your honoree as a notice of your gift.

Thank you, and have a merry Christmas and a happy New Year!