ST. LOUIS—February 3, 2017— Having been a part of St. Louis for more than 145 years, Moneta Group truly values the community that it calls home. In an effort to give back, the firm established a Charitable Foundation in 1999. Through the foundation, employees are able to provide both monetary and volunteer support to organizations that they are passionate about.
“Helping others is part of the fabric of what we do at Moneta Group,” states Dan West, Chairman of the Moneta Group Charitable Foundation. “The Foundation is a way for our employees to give back to the community that we call home.”
Each year the foundation selects two organizations to whom they award Strategic Partnership grants. Each partner receives $25,000 and support throughout the year from Moneta’s volunteer arm, Moneta Momentum. This year, the foundation has selected Special Olympics Missouri and The Center of Creative Arts (COCA) as their recipients.
“Our employees have long admired the causes that these organizations represent; it is an honor to support them and their missions,” said West.
The $25,000 grant to Special Olympics will help support the organization’s mission “to provide year-round sports training and athletic competition for children and adults with intellectual disabilities, giving them continuing opportunities to develop physical fitness, demonstrate courage, experience joy and participate in a sharing of gifts, skills, and friendship.”
The grant will be used to support events throughout the year, including the St. Louis Track Club Half-Marathon and Clayton Police Department 5k, the Lake St. Louis and Maryland Heights Polar Plunges, the St. Louis Metro Area Spring Games, and other events and regional competitions. This partnership is being championed by Moneta Group employee, Audrey Verret, a 10-year veteran volunteer with Special Olympics and St. Louis’s 2016 Special Olympics Volunteer of the Year.
“Through my work with Special Olympics I have seen the transformative powers that athletic competition can have on these remarkable athletes, both mentally and physically,” says Verret. “I feel extremely fortunate to have this unique opportunity to share my dedication to the Special Olympics movement with my Moneta family. It is wonderful to be part of a company so deeply committed to inciting change in the community.”
The $25,000 grant to COCA will help support their mission to enrich lives and build community through the arts. The grant will help fund several of COCA’s events throughout the year, including Flame, COCAcabana, and Uptown. This partnership is being championed by Moneta Group Partner, Hunter Brown.
“I have seen first-hand the positive impact an art center can have on its community by providing resources that allow creative people to reach their potential,” says Brown. “This partnership will allow Moneta Group and COCA to join forces to help enrich and grow our community.”
Moneta’s support of these organizations is just one example of the firm’s corporate stewardship. Through the individual gifts of its partners and employees, participation on dozens of nonprofit boards, and the work of the Moneta Group Charitable Foundation, the firm contributed, in total, more than $260,000 and 625+ hours of volunteer time in 2016.
“It is so rewarding to work for an organization with such a generous spirit,” says West. “Employees in every corner of the firm are truly passionate about donating their time, talent, and treasure to the organizations working hard to make St. Louis a happier, healthier place.”
