Nestlé LIBBY’S® Pumpkin Sustainability Project Fund
Celebrating 100 Years by Growing a More Sustainable Future
In 2025, Libby’s celebrated an extraordinary milestone: 100 years of producing its iconic pumpkin products in Central Illinois. To commemorate a century of connection to Morton and the surrounding farming community, Nestlé USA made a $100,000 gift to the Morton Community Foundation to support three permanent endowed funds focused on agriculture, food production, sustainability, education, and the future of the community.
The gift established the Nestlé LIBBY’S® Pumpkin Sustainability Project Fund and the LIBBY’S® Pumpkin Sustainable Food Systems Scholarship Fund, while also providing additional support to the existing Morton Project Pumpkin Endowment Fund.
The Nestlé LIBBY’S® Pumpkin Sustainability Project Fund is a permanent endowed donor advised fund created to support Morton-area youth, nonprofit organizations, and school projects related to agriculture, pollinator gardens, food production, and environmental sustainability.
Growing a More Sustainable Future
For more than a century, Libby’s Pumpkin has been closely connected to Morton, Central Illinois agriculture, and the family farms that grow the pumpkins used in its products. Looking toward its next century, Libby’s recognizes that protecting those traditions also means investing in sustainable practices and the people and organizations working to strengthen our local food systems and natural environment.
Through annual grants, the Nestlé LIBBY’S® Pumpkin Sustainability Project Fund can support educational opportunities and community initiatives that promote hands-on learning, agriculture, local food production, pollinator habitats, and environmental stewardship.
These priorities reflect sustainability efforts that are already part of the Libby’s story in Central Illinois, including conserving and reusing water in pumpkin processing, supporting pollinators and healthy habitats, and finding productive uses for nearly the entire pumpkin.
As an endowed donor advised fund, representatives designated by the Morton Libby’s plant and/or Nestlé USA may recommend grants to qualified nonprofit organizations whose projects align with the fund’s charitable purpose.
By establishing this permanent endowment, Nestlé and Libby’s have turned the celebration of a remarkable 100-year milestone into an investment that can benefit the Morton community for generations to come. The fund honors a century of agricultural tradition while helping cultivate new ideas, educational opportunities, and community projects that support a more sustainable future.
To make a tax-deductible donation to this endowment fund, you can:
Donate by check: Make it payable to Morton Community Foundation and mail it to 135 S First Ave, Morton, IL 61550. Please write “Johnson SHS Scholarship” on the memo line.
Make a tax-advantaged gift of stock…Visit our stock gifting page by clicking HERE.
For more ways to give, CLICK HERE.
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Are you a Caterpillar Employee or Retiree?
The Caterpillar Foundation is proud to offer the year-round Matching Gifts Program to support their employees, U.S. retirees and board of directors in their contributions to worthy causes. Eligible Caterpillar participants may request an annual total maximum 1:1 match of $10,000 USD each calendar year to eligible charities to which contributions are tax deductible. The Morton Community Foundation is an eligible charity. So, if you are an eligible Caterpillar participant, you may submit any donations to this fund for an equivalent match, up to your total maximum of $10,000 per year. CLICK HERE to link to the Caterpillar Foundation’s Matching Gift website.