Mary Lamy horseback riding on the Arizona-Mexico border earlier this year.
Mary Lamy – a longtime Hygiene-area farmer and donor to Community Foundation Boulder County – established a Donor-Advised Fund at the foundation in 1999. Mary recently attended a field trip at Fair Farm, organized by the Community Foundation’s Environmental Affinity Group (EAG), and we had the chance to catch up with her about her community activism and giving.
“I knew nothing about community foundations, but I knew Josie Heath from the YWCA,” she recalls. “Josie talked to me about the role of the Community Foundation in Boulder County, and I even ended up walking door-to-door with her when she was running for County Commissioner.”
Indeed, Josie served as Boulder County Commissioner from 1982-1990, and began her 21-year tenure as President of Community Foundation Boulder County in 1995.
Continues Mary, “I’ve always been very active in the community. So when Josie encouraged me to read grants, I got involved with the Community Foundation’s grant-reviewing committee and learned a lot about local nonprofits in different areas – from the arts to social services.”
From there, Mary’s engagement with Community Foundation Boulder County expanded to include serving on our Board of Trustees and Investment Committee, applying her expertise as a Certified Financial Planner. She also helped get the foundation’s ELPASO initiative off the ground and – although she sold her farm in 2012 – she recently re-connected with the Community Foundation driven by her interest in the activities of the EAG, including the group’s focus on local regenerative agriculture.
“I admire the Community Foundation and all that it does,” says Mary, who’s originally from St. Louis. “I’ve lived on the land my entire adult life, so I’m very interested in conservation – and I’m so impressed by what I’m learning about regenerative ag, and the revolutionary, restorative efforts of problem-solvers and Renaissance men like Philip Taylor [Executive Director and Co-Founder of Mad Agriculture].
“I may be in my 80s, but I’m really onto things about the environment and now regenerative ag – the Community Foundation opened that door in my mind.”
She concludes, “I’ve been a feminist since the early 70s, and I’m keen to stay involved – from women’s and children’s issues to the environment and our food supply.”
For more information about Donor-Advised Funds – and to create your own fund at Community Foundation Boulder County – contact our Philanthropic Services. As well, we hope you’ll consider supporting our annual operating fund in your year-end giving, enabling us to continue to be responsive to immediate community crises and other needs, while anticipating and preparing for future challenges and opportunities.