Patrick and Anna M Cudahy Fund

About Patrick and Anna M Cudahy Fund

The Patrick and Anna M Cudahy Fund’s recent grant list is anchored by support for preschool in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, alongside a long-running pattern of grants to social services, health, education, arts, and environment organizations. That combination makes the fund notable: it supports community needs in Metropolitan Chicago and Wisconsin, while also using discretionary grants to back selected efforts outside its main geographic focus. Recent awards show a mix of general operating support, program support, scholarships, and project funding. In the Chicago area, the fund has supported food access, legal training, homelessness services, and environmental work. In Wisconsin, grants have gone to literacy, youth and family services, and housing-related arts programming. The fund also appears in international grantmaking through Maryknoll Sisters’ hospice and eco-farm work in Guatemala and preschool support in South Africa. The fund’s grantmaking is tied to economically challenged or marginalized communities, with a stated emphasis on improving lives in Metropolitan Chicago and throughout Wisconsin. Its recent portfolio includes both recurring support to familiar organizations and one-off project grants, suggesting a blend of ongoing relationships and targeted awards across its focus areas.

What Patrick and Anna M Cudahy Fund Funds

In education and training, the fund has supported several distinct pathways. DePaul University College of Law received $30,000 for its Summer Public Interest Law Internship Program in 2024 and $25,000 for the same internship program in 2025, while Maryknoll Sisters received $35,000 in 2023 for Horizons Basic And Vocational Training. Food security is another visible theme. Greater Chicago Food Depository Inc received $25,000 in 2024 for General Operations, after a $25,000 grant in 2023 for General Unrestricted. Hunger Task Force also received $20,000 in 2023 for its Emergency Food Program. Health and human services grants include $20,000 in 2025 to Sarah's Circle for General Operations and $20,000 in 2025 to Misericordia HomeHeart of Mercy for General Operations. Environmental support appears through $20,000 grants in 2023 and 2024 to Environmental Law & Policy Center and Environmental Law and Policy Center of the Midwest for general support and operations.

How Patrick and Anna M Cudahy Fund Gives