Anne Baker Charities in Peru Seeks to Fund Local Nonprofits – Shaw Local

Anne M. Baker Charities, Inc, a nonprofit in Peru, is seeking applications from local nonprofits in need of funding and plans to distribute a total of $150,000 this year.

The purpose of the Anne Baker Charities is to provide funds to meet the needs of local nonprofit organizations in La Salle, Bureau, and Putnam counties. It was created according to the wishes of Anne Baker, a resident of Peru, and funded with money from her estate after her death.

Last year, trustees were able to fund nonprofits they knew needed funding. This year, they’re looking to diversify the charities they help and put the money where it’s needed most. To do this, the administrators are asking all non-profit organizations in the region to apply. Anne Baker Charities does not discriminate on the basis of race, gender, religion, etc. in any of its activities or operations, as set forth on its website.

“We want the community to be involved in how the funds are spent and we want to go where the need is,” said Rorie Schweickert, director of Anne Baker Charities and friend of the couple’s family.

The charity was founded in 2021 following the death of Anne Baker in 2020. Anne Baker was married to Donald L. Baker, who served as Peru’s city councilor from 1957 to 1961 and then mayor from 1965 to 2009.

Schweickert said the couple were always charitable and generous when it came to the community. In 1995, Anne Baker established the Anne Baker Foundation and has donated for years, her latest gift being the clock tower in front of Peru City Hall. Baker was also an active member of his church and started a club that made handmade quilts for those in need.

Additionally, after losing her daughter, Dee, to cancer, Baker set up nursing scholarships through Illinois Valley Community Hospital (now St. Margaret’s -Peru) in the name of Dee. Schweickert said in a statement posted on the charity’s website that Anne Baker Charities was her latest act of philanthropy to meet the needs of local charities and the community.

For more information about the charity or how to apply for funding, visit their website: https://www.annembakercharities.com/about-us