Nonprofits
Meals on Wheels Oklahoma City delivers food to a home-bound client.
Our Pledge to You
As our community’s nonprofits, you are our change makers. You’re on the front lines, directly impacting those in need, and we are here to support you. Through our endowment program, grant programs, partnerships and more, we are here to help you continue to grow your impact and make this community a better place to live.
For more than 50 years, the Oklahoma City Community Foundation has committed itself to the citizens of Oklahoma City by doing its part to improve lives, provide resources and help people achieve their dreams. The Foundation’s experts can guide you and answer your questions to help you create the impact you want to make happen.
The Access to Health Care iFund program was designed to support organizations that provide basic and preventative health care, including mental health, dental, and hospice services, to those who would not otherwise have access to such services due to economic, social, or geographic reasons.
Learn more at occf.org/ifunds/health.
The Parks & Public Space Initiative supports the beautification, development and activation of neighborhood/community parks, school parks, trails and other public lands.
Learn more at occf.org/parks.
Ed Malzahn was a third-generation resident of Perry, Oklahoma. He was an engineer, an innovator, and a strong leader. He was a husband, father, and grandfather. Most people remember him for being a successful entrepreneur and business owner. But to those who really knew Ed, he will be remembered for the love he had for his hometown. During the 1940s, Mr. Malzahn transformed a family blacksmith business into a company called Charles Machine Works, which evolved into an industry leader in trenching equipment.
He eventually made a global impact in the industry when he developed the world's first service-line trencher, known today as Ditch Witch. Perry and its citizens always held a special place in the hearts of Ed and his wife Mary. And they knew they wanted to impact their community in a positive way. In 1992, the Malzahns established the Malzahn Family Affiliated Fund with the Oklahoma City Community Foundation to help support organizations throughout Perry that mattered to them.
Jennifer Stewart is the Senior Director of Donor Services with OCCF, and has been working with the Malzahn family to help steward that support. Through the Malzahn Family Affiliated Fund, the Malzahns’ impact will continue for generations, lifting up Perry and making it a better place to call home. Rick Johnson has known the Malzahn Family for many years and he worked for Charles Machine Works as their CEO.
Now retired, Rick now serves as a trustee for the Oklahoma City Community Foundation and works as the primary contact for the Malzahn Family Affiliated Fund. A lot of people talked about Ditch Witch being Ed’s legacy. Perry is actually Ed’s legacy. That company, as Ed would tell you, belonged to the employees, to the city of Perry, and if there's anything left over— the family.
And that was where his heart was at. One of the organizations that has benefited from their generosity is the Noble County Family YMCA. Ed and Mary wanted to ensure The Y would continue to thrive, so they made sure the town of Perry had a first-class YMCA, thanks to grants made from the Malzahn Family Affiliated Fund through the Oklahoma City Community Foundation.
Our goal is to have The Y be the heart of our community, a place where you can come work out, a place where you can come hang out. The goal for our community is to have that gathering place, and we're happy that The Y has become that. Some of the other areas meaningful to the Malzahns include Perry Public Schools, where they supported the funding of a new high school auditorium, as well as many other school projects.
And anyone who visits Perry will see their charming downtown square on Main Street. The Malzahns' fund continues to support improvements made throughout Main Street to enhance the quality of life for its citizens. Ed and Mary, you know, they wanted Perry to to thrive. And the school system was a big part of that. And so not only thrive, but when kids graduate, I believe Ed and Mary wanted to see them come back to Perry and raise a family there and have their kids go to school there, work there.
The school system is a huge part of that. The community loves that our downtown is still as active and as preserved as it is, and it wouldn't be what it is without Ed and Mary. Together, we can build a stronger, more supportive community for everyone. If you want to make a difference, join us. Your Oklahoma City Community Foundation will help you make it happen. Ed and Mary Malzahn created a legacy that is the glue that holds the community of Perry together.
Piyush and Lisa Patel met as eighth grade pen pals, and this early correspondence led Piyush to believe that one day Lisa would become his wife. A true testament to the power of connection. Following his graduation from Oklahoma State University, Piyush began a teaching career. He discovered that there was a lack of tutorial programs for his students, and he wanted to do something about that.
With some help from a few friends and Lisa. He started an online training program that provided affordable tutorials in graphic design and software programs for students and developing artists. The company was called Digital Tutors and it became one of the largest digital libraries in the country. In 2014, they sold the company and began a new chapter in their lives — opening a winery. The Patels’ goal was to help change lives to the products they created, so they decided to donate all of their revenue to Oklahoma nonprofits. For our family, you know, we're Oklahomans through and through, essentially. And so we kind of live by this philosophy of planting trees that were never going to sit under. And I think that's just the Oklahoma way.
We do something for the future generations, even if we're not beneficiaries on it today. In 2015, the Patels established the Piyush and Lisa Patel Family Fund with the Oklahoma City Community Foundation. This fund allows them to support causes and organizations they care about throughout Central Oklahoma, year after year. The Oklahoma City Community Foundation makes it possible for anyone to make a difference from small one-time gift to helping to manage a large estate, to providing gifts that will make a difference for generations to come.
The Oklahoma City Community Foundation can help anyone make a difference. One of the organizations that has benefited from the Patels' generosity is Infant Crisis Services. Founded by Miki Farris, this nonprofit offers vital emergency support, including food and diapers, to babies and toddlers facing hardship. We've always been very concerned about children and health and mothers and health and their well-being.
So we thought Infant Crisis Services would be a wonderful way to do that. Piyush and Lisa are the kindest, most humble people that you'll ever meet. They're givers of knowledge. They're givers of time. They're givers of money. I am so glad that I've had the opportunity to have them as one of our donors, but they really become more than that, they’re friends.
Everything in here I need — like diapers and formula, food for my kids, clothes mainly. And blankets. They need shoes. So basically everything in here like they have, I need. So it's really a blessing. Four years after establishing their family fun with OCCF, the Patels also created the Patel Family Scholarship through The Foundation. This scholarship offers one-time awards to graduating seniors who have participated in the Redlands Community College Trio Upward Bound Program, who plan to pursue a professional certificate, an associate or bachelor's degree.
This program provides tutoring, college readiness, and college counseling to first generation or students facing financial barriers and access to college. And it really allows first generation college students to be able to have a support system. So we established the Patel Family Scholarship to essentially cover the first year of school wherever they want to go. So whenever I received the Patel Family Scholarship, I was excited because I knew that it would help with college tuition, and it'll just kind of be like a little less of a financial stress like on me and my family.
So I'm very grateful for it. We provide highly-personalized service, guidance, excellent advice, and connections to help you make the greatest impact possible. We know that if each one of us does our part, we can reach the hopes and aspirations that we have for Oklahoma City and the Central Oklahoma region. Together, we can build a stronger, more supportive community for everyone.
If you want to make a difference, join us. Your Oklahoma City Community Foundation will help you make it happen.
Mitchell was my youngest son. From a very young age, he was a performer. He made us laugh.
He was very smart, very handsome. And he had an ability throughout his life to capture people's attention. Son. Brother. Friend. World traveler. Accomplished scholar. A young man whose personal mission in life was to make the world a better place. That was Mitchell Burns, touching the lives of everyone he met.
He lived his entire life fearlessly. Always curious, always exploring and always excelling. Upon graduation from Boston College, Mitchell yearned to live abroad and moved to Berlin, Germany. One of the unique things about this incredible young man was his love for parks, trees and nature. He loved, of course, trees and the beauty of a park. But the human landscape of a park was what he was enamored with.
I think his favorite day was the day in a park. When traveling, Mitchell loved to visit public parks and green spaces. He was curious to see what kind of parks other cities had to offer to their community and their citizens to enjoy. Back home in Oklahoma City, Mitchell would enjoy parks all over the city, including Scissortail Park.
Michelle Furrer is the president and CEO of Myriad Gardens and Scissortail Park Foundations, organizations that have a strong partnership with the Oklahoma City Community Foundation. For many years, we have partnered with the Oklahoma City Community Foundation to really support these programs through some of our great donors’ enhancements, as well as some of the grants that we've been able to receive to maintain and make beautiful gardens and beautiful spaces for people. At OCCF, we’re bound to protect the intentions of the donors and make sure the fund does what it's supposed to do for many years to come.
In this case, we're making sure that the Mitchell’s Shade Fund will provide trees that will go into the community to honor people like Mitchell with other families. Sadly, Mitchell's life was cut short by a tragic accident, leaving a huge void in the lives of his family.
His parents wanted to do something to honor him, and they could not find a better way than to create what is known today as Mitchell's Shade. Under the guidance of Scissortail Park, the Burns approached the Oklahoma City Community Foundation to establish the Scissortail Park Mitchell’s Shade Endowment Fund. They wanted to make sure there would be funds available well into the future, that allows them to give away hundreds of trees each year to others who want to honor a loved one and are bringing more color to the world. And over the last two years, more than 2000 trees were given away to people across central Oklahoma and beyond.
We have an idea we're not too sure what to do with it.
And, the Oklahoma City Community Foundation saw something in it and got enthusiastic about it and have been incredible partners with us to this point, and will be for for many years to come. When the Mitchell’s Shade Tree giveaway is scheduled, people begin lining up early in the morning at Scissortail Park. One couple made the journey two years in a row to receive their trees, and were the first ones in line both years.
We thought, what a great opportunity to go down and help them honor their son and then continue that for our family for years to come. It's something that brings community together. It brings people together. It serves a mission and a purpose, and it helps Mitchell's family remember him. Everything about it is is good and pure, and I think we need some of that.
John and Melanie Burns see this program as a way to not only remember a loved one by planting a tree in their honor, but will also bring a little more color back into the world. Together, we can build a stronger, more supportive community for everyone. If you want to make a difference, join us. Your Oklahoma City Community Foundation will help you make it happen.
Last time I saw Mitchell, he said, “Dad, bring my mitt and your mitt. When we come, let's play catch.” Yeah, we played catch.
Community Impact
At the Oklahoma City Community Foundation, our number one goal is bringing people together from all across the community who want to invest in this place and the people who live here. This resulted in nearly $80 million dollars in grants, scholarships and distributions to our endowed partners in FY23.
$63.3 M+
Grant Distributions
$3.4M+
Scholarships Distributed
$12.3 M+
Distributed to Endowment Partners
Nonprofit Resources
Explore the various resources we offer to our nonprofit partners.
Endowment Program
Grants Opportunities
