Foundation Releases Annual Report

Financial assistance for hundreds of families in Kentucky and new water purification systems for communities in Mexico and Tanzania are just a few results of the Louisville Water Foundation’s work in 2023.

In the organization’s annual report, President Spencer Bruce and Chair Jennifer Fust-Rutherford point out that “the Foundation has a history of serving all levels of community: local, regional, national, and global.”

Grants from the organization last year also supported these projects:

• Largest percentage of grants funded Drops of Kindness℠, Louisville Water & Louisville MSD’s customer assistance program. The Foundation provided $300,000 in regular funding and $100,000 in special funding to the Association of Community Ministries in Jefferson County.
• Louisville-based WaterStep started creating a Disaster Response Trailer to connect multiple teams and equipment after natural disasters such as tornadoes and floods.
• Texas-based Water is Basic repaired wells for communities in South Sudan affected by the influx of refugees and returnees from the Sudanese conflict.
• Young Authors Greenhouse, a Louisville-based literacy nonprofit, developed students’ writing skills as they learned about the role of water in their lives.

The Foundation also celebrated its ten-year anniversary in 2023, which gave the Board of Directors a chance to pause and begin developing a new strategic plan to guide the work of the organization through the next several years.

See the 2023 Report to the Community for the areas of focus in the plan as well as details on the grant-funded projects, the Foundation’s financial highlights, and more information on the organization’s commitment to improving quality of life worldwide by supporting water safety, education, and protection programs.