Leo McCarthy's legacy lives on
Leo A. & Joy K. McCarthy Center for Nonprofits opens
By ERIK HOGSTROM TH staff writer


Joy McCarthy greets visitors Thursday during an open house for the Leo A. & Joy K. McCarthy Center for Nonprofits at the Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque. The center will provide nonprofit organizations tools for endowment building, grant writing and research, board development and agency collaboration. Video at THonline.com

No more will searching for a grant be like looking for a needle in a haystack.

The Leo A. & Joy K. McCarthy Center for Nonprofits includes computers linked to a vast database of grant funding sources -- just one of the resources at the center, officially opened Thursday at the Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque.

"He would be pleased," Joy McCarthy said of her late husband, Leo. "This was really one of his pet projects."

McCarthy, who died in 2006, helped form the foundation, served on the organization's board of directors and co-chaired the foundation's investment committee. An attorney, McCarthy proved instrumental in completing the many legal requirements necessary for the organization's birth and subsequent growth.

"Leo was highly committed to us," said Nancy Van Milligen, the foundation's president and chief executive officer. "He worked tirelessly, even after being stricken with ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis)."

The 2005 Telegraph Herald First Citizen, McCarthy also helped foster numerous nonprofit organizations -- the groups likely

to use the center's resources.

"He served so many organizations," Van Milligen said. "That was his vision, to serve the nonprofits."

The center is located in the community foundation offices in the Dubuque Building, 700 Locust St., Suite 195. The center's library includes a large collection of books and periodicals devoted to raising funds and philanthropy.

"Not a lot of nonprofits can afford the subscriptions," Van Milligen said.

A nonprofit organization governance curriculum, "Board Boot Camp," also is available, along with two large meeting rooms.

Staff and volunteers of any local nonprofit organization can access the center from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday.

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