2026 COMMUNITY CARES GRANT APPLICATION
Opening July 1, 2025
We’re excited to welcome both returning partners and first-time applicants to this year’s Community Cares grant cycle. Please note that the 2026 application has been refreshed – you’ll see some new sections and a slightly different format compared to past years. We encourage you to review it carefully.
Our goal? Partner with you to meet critical needs in Laclede County – whether it’s providing emergency shelter for survivors of domestic violence, distributing food to hungry families, helping people rise out of poverty, delivering mental health and drug rehabilitation services, or aiding victims of natural disasters. Community Cares grants are designed to support essential services – not enrichment programs, but the safety nets that help our neighbors survive and rebuild. We look forward to raising funds together and shining a brighter light on your agency’s life-changing work in our community.
Historically, the deadline to submit all required documents for consideration has been on August 31st. This year, August 31st is a Sunday. If you are hand-delivering your application packet, it must be brought to our office in the upstairs administrative offices of the Cowan Civic Center located at 500 E. Elm Street in Lebanon, Missouri by 5:00 pm on Friday, August 29th to be considered. If mailing to our PO Box, your completed packet with ALL required documents must be postmarked by August 30, 2025.
We are NOT accepting applications via email or online submission.
Click the links below to download application documents in Word format:
2026 Community Cares Grant Application
2026 Guidelines and Agreement Form
Contact Lebanon Area Foundation at 417-532-8868 or rreid@LAFcares.org to request the grant documents in PDF format via email.
Grant Workshops
Lebanon Area Foundation is hosting two FREE grant workshops to assist those who are interested in applying for the 2026 Community Cares Grants.
This workshop will be held at the Wallace Building located at 325 Harwood Avenue in Lebanon.
Please call the office at 532-8868 to RSVP.
Monday, July 21 – 5:30 pm – 7:00 pm – Seats Available
Monday, August 11 – 5:30 pm – 7:00 pm – Seats Available