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Cedar Rapids couple donates $2.1 million to nonprofits
Mike and Jo Cambridge gave $4.5 million to Catholic schools, churches in the area in 2015
Oct. 7, 2022 2:37 pm, Updated: Oct. 7, 2022 3:06 pm
CEDAR RAPIDS — A Cedar Rapids couple will donate $2.1 million to seven Linn County nonprofits, United Way of East Central Iowa, one of the beneficiaries, announced Friday.
The couple, Mike and Jo Cambridge, ran a staffing business called Cambridge TEMPositions in Cedar Rapids for more than 30 years before they retired in 2014. In 2015, the couple donated $4.5 million to five Catholic schools and churches.
“Our business blessed us more than we could have imagined, and we firmly believe in giving back,” Jo Cambridge said in a news release Friday.
“We believe that we came into this world with nothing, and we’ll leave with nothing.”
The seven nonprofits that will receive funds, along with United Way of East Central Iowa, are Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Dubuque, Foundation 2 Crisis Services, Junior Achievement of Eastern Iowa, Mercy Medical Center Foundation, the Salvation Army of Cedar Rapids and Willis Dady Homeless Services.
Each nonprofit will receive $300,000 over the next three years. The first $100,000 already has been distributed, the release said.
“With our country on the edge of recession, we know people will be needing more and more services to help them through the downturn. The organizations we chose have a pulse on the community and provide services to those who need it most,” Mike Cambridge said in the release.
“It’s our hope that this donation will encourage others who have the means to step up during this upcoming recession. Our community needs us.”
While deciding how to donate this money, the Cambridges reached out to the different nonprofits and asked how they would use a donation like this, according to Mel Doudna, the director of marketing and communications for United Way.
“This obviously means a lot to the community, especially being able to spread it out to so many different organizations,” Doudna said.
The release listed the plan that each nonprofit has for the first $100,000:
- United Way of East Central Iowa will spend the money on eviction prevention, food insecurity, emergency shelter, transportation and crisis mental health services as part of its Community Goals for Safety Net Services
- Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Dubuque will use the funding to provide immigration services to immigrants and refugees in Linn County.
- Foundation 2 Crisis Services will use most of the money to help fund its capital project to purchase and renovate a new headquarters facility. The rest of the money will support the Emergency Youth Shelter run by Foundation 2.
- Junior Achievement of Easter Iowa will use the money to launch two new programs — JA BizTown Mobile, which provides educators with resources to teach financial literacy and career readiness, and #3DE by Junior Achievement, a project-based learning methodology that overlays the principles of Junior Achievement across high school core curriculum requirements.
- Mercy Medical Center Foundation will use the funding to support it’s HallMar Village, a senior living community for older adults and those living with chronic conditions.
- The Salvation Army of Cedar Rapids plans to expand its Pathway of Hope program as well as its summer day camp program using the donation.
- Willis Dady Homeless Services will put the money toward its Supportive Housing program.
Having lived in Cedar Rapids so long, the Cambridges have seen the work that these charities do in the community, which made it easy to decide to use their money to support them, Mike Cambridge said.
“You don’t have to be persuaded by (these nonprofits). They kind of speak for themselves,” Mike Cambridge told The Gazette on Friday.
“They’re the leading agencies in the Linn County Area, that cover everything from housing to … eating. They cover the gamut of what the poor would need.”
The Cambridges started Cambridge TEMPositions in 1979. They sold their temporary employment business to QPS Employment Group, a Brookfield, Wisc., employment services company, in 2012.
The business worked in five locations and employed 75,000 Iowans during the time the Cambridges owned it.
Comments: (319) 398-8328; emily.andersen@thegazette.com
Jo and Mike Cambridge speak with people after a news conference at Xavier High School in Cedar Rapids in 2015 during which they announced a $4.5 million gift to various Catholic schools and churches. The Cambridges said they would donate $1.2 million over the following three years to seven Linn County nonprofits. (The Gazette)
