The St. Anthony Park Community Foundation, St. Paul, which has grown consistently since it was created in 1998, has taken a step toward providing more grants, tackling larger community issues and gaining important credibility when it announced that it has affiliated with The Saint Paul Foundation.

"Our mission is to nurture our community assets," said St. Anthony Park Community Foundation board chair Julie Causey. "Our affiliation with The Saint Paul Foundation will establish us as the primary organization to which residents and former residents of our neighborhood can give back and insure a legacy."

The affiliation agreement came after a year of discussion among the St. Anthony Park Community Foundation board and negotiations with The Saint Paul Foundation, which sees the St. Anthony Park Community Foundation as an excellent resource with great potential for philanthropic work in the neighborhood.

"It is exciting to see philanthropic leadership from neighborhoods within the larger community in which we all live and work. When we're close to the issues that affect our neighborhoods, we have a greater ability to have meaningful impact with our gifts," said Carleen Rhodes, president of The Saint Paul Foundation. "I look forward to supporting the St. Anthony Park Community Foundation's efforts to build permanent funds to support St. Anthony Park far into the future."

Over the past seven years, the St. Anthony Park Community Foundation has awarded more than 30 grants totaling approximately $75,000 to arts, educational, environmental and health care nonprofit organizations and initiatives.

The St. Anthony Park Community Foundation is the city of St. Paul's only neighborhood-based charitable foundation.