Sandfort to head Community Foundation of the Ozarks office in Cape

The Community Foundation of the Ozarks is set to open a new office in Cape Girardeau, with a familiar face at the helm.

Retired Cape Girardeau banker Maurice "Moe" Sandfort joined the foundation April 1 as a senior adviser of philanthropy for the east region and will lead the local office.

Sandfort spent 46 years in executive management positions in banking before retiring in 2011 from The Bank of Missouri. Within the community, he also has served on boards for Saint Francis Medical Center, Trinity Lutheran Church and the Southeast Missouri University Foundation.

It was his many years in banking that allowed Sandfort to develop relationships with those involved with the Community Foundation of the Ozarks, particularly in the Springfield area. When he was approached to join the foundation, he said he "had a lot of faith in them and a lot of confidence in what they were doing." Sandfort said he was excited about the idea of helping bring the foundation to the community in which he raised his children and lived for so many years, and the idea seemed popular with residents he spoke with as well.

"I had a conversation with several people in Cape, people that knew about what was going on in Cape, and their feelings were that a community foundation would be a good thing for our community as well," he said.

The Community Foundation of the Ozarks is a regional public charitable foundation with a service area covering 58 counties south of the Missouri River. It includes a network of 46 regional affiliate foundations.

The new Cape Girardeau office grants an opportunity to more closely serve the foundations in the eastern region, including the Ste. Genevieve County Community Foundation, founded in 2003, and the new Perry County Community Foundation established in December. Besides heading the Cape Girardeau office, Sandfort also will be responsible for new asset and resource development in the general eastern Missouri region, providing assistance to the already established foundations.

While the process of setting up the foundation still is in the early stages, Sandfort said people interested in becoming part of the effort are welcome to reach out.

"Everybody likes to give back to the community they earned their living from and that's what we want to give them an opportunity to do," he said.

The community foundation will be able to provide more long-term funding, Sandfort added, which is a unique opportunity compared to the one-time-only funds not-for-profit groups often have to work with.

The overall goal of the Community Foundation of the Ozarks is to enhance the quality of life in the region through resource development, community grant-making, collaboration and public leadership. The foundation holds assets of $262 million as of Feb. 28 in about 3,000 charitable funds serving donors, affiliate foundations and nearly 600 not-for-profit agencies and schools, according to a news release.

Those interested in becoming part of the Cape Girardeau community foundation may contact Sandfort at msandfort@cfozarks.org.

srinehart@semissourian.com

388-3641

Pertinent address:

Cape Girardeau, Mo.