Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle, Torch Technologies Chairman/CEO Bill Roark, Community Foundation CEO/President Stuart Obermann and numerous employees attended the announcement for the Community Catalyst Fund. (CONTRIBUTED)

HUNTSVILLE – The Community Foundation of Huntsville/Madison County and Torch Technologies have created a new endowment fund that will provide a perpetual source of grants for improving qualify of life in Huntsville and Madison County.

Unrestricted gifts will fund the Community Catalyst Fund that will allow the Community Foundation to make annual grants to local improvements.

“This new fund will allow our foundation to become an active grant maker in our community,” Stuart Obermann, Community Foundation CEO/President, said. The foundation board and staff will “make and manage strategic philanthropic investments for a positive impact for everyone living in the greater Huntsville area.”

The board’s Community Impact Committee will assess needs in the region and then prioritize and fund strategic projects that solve real problems, Obermann said.

Torch Technologies has provided the inaugural leadership gift to open the fund and has been named Torchbearer Sponsor. Torch donated $50,000 to jump-start the fund and is offering $100,000 more as a challenge grant to match other corporate and individual gifts to the Catalyst Fund.

“We have been looking for the right opportunity for Torch to make a ‘signature’ type of commitment, one that would have a long-lasting positive impact on our community,” Torch Chairman/CEO Bill Roark said.

The Community Foundation’s mission is to serve as trustee of the community’s future, fostering philanthropy and mobilizing partners, while striving for an exceptional quality of life both today and tomorrow.

In its fifth year, the foundation has raised or managed more than $13.6 million in charitable donations and has distributed $3.4 million to non-profit agencies, churches and schools.

Founded in 2002, Torch Technologies is an employee-owned small business that provides technical services. Torch won the Better Business Bureau’s Torch Award for business ethics in North Alabama in 2005 and 2009, along with being a finalist in 2007.

For more information about the Community Foundation of Huntsville/Madison County, call 256-535-2066, email to stuart@communityfoundationhsv.org or visit communityfoundationhsv.org.