The DeKalb County Community Foundation recently awarded $98,200 in Farny R. Wurlitzer Foundation Fund Grants. These grants will provide funding for music education to 21 nonprofit organizations and public sector direct service organizations across the greater Chicagoland area and locally in DeKalb County.

“The Wurlitzer name means ‘music to millions’,” said Karla Gulke, President of Children’s Community Theatre. “By awarding this grant to support our programs, their legacy will continue and grow. The young artists they support have their love of music and theatre nurtured in our community due to the availability of the programs made possible by their generosity.”

The Wurlitzer Company was one of the largest musical instrument companies in the United States, with a primary manufacturing location in DeKalb. The Farny R. Wurlitzer Foundation was established in the 1940’s and it became a Fund of the Community Foundation in 2012. Today, the Farny R. Wurlitzer Foundation Fund Grant is one of several grantmaking programs at the Community Foundation.

“It is a privilege to carry on the legacy of the Farny R. Wurlitzer Foundation by awarding grants from this Fund,” said Community Foundation Grants & DeKalb County Nonprofit Partnership Director Ben Bingle. “A special thank you goes to the Fund’s Board of Advisors for making these significant funding decisions. We look forward to seeing the grants in action through music education programming in DeKalb County and beyond.” 

Farny R. Wurlitzer

DeKalb County recipients: 

• Children’s Community Theatre – $3,000

Greater Chicagoland area recipients: 

• The Allendale Association – $1,000
• Center for Enriched Living – $2,000
• Cerqua Rivera Dance Theatre – $5,000
• Changing Worlds – $6,000
• Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble – $3,000
• Chicago Philharmonic Society – $5,000
• City Colleges of Chicago Foundation – $5,000
• Classical Kids Music Education – $10,000
• Distinctive Schools – $3,700
• Elgin Symphony Orchestra – $5,000
• Harmony, Hope & Healing – $2,000
• Intonation Music – $2,500
• Maywood Fine Arts Association – $5,000
• Merit School of Music – $9,000
• Musical Arts Institute – $5,000
• Rockford Symphony Orchestra – $5,000
• Singing Boys of Rockford – $3,000
• Snow City Arts Foundation – $10,000
• Storycatchers Theatre – $5,000
• Walther Christian Academy – $3,000

Learn more about Farny R. Wurlitzer Foundation Fund Grants >

Donations to any Fund at the Community Foundation can be made online or by mail to the DeKalb County Community Foundation, 475 DeKalb Avenue, Sycamore, IL 60178. For questions or additional information, please contact grants@dekalbccf.org. Questions or inquiries specifically about the Farny R. Wurlitzer Foundation Fund Grant can be directed to the Fund’s Board of Advisors Chairperson, George Buck, at george@dekalbccf.org. 

Pictured above: Young artists perform in a Children’s Community Theatre production.