An unprecedented effort by U.S. community foundations to help those impacted by COVID-19 has now mobilized more than $1 billion to support on-the-ground efforts by nonprofits.

This latest figure includes funds managed by nearly 600 community foundations that have provided data as part of an ongoing study by the Community Foundation Public Awareness Initiative of grantmaking activities during COVID-19.

A diverse coalition of individuals, companies, and foundations have rallied to mobilize $536.6 million to support community foundation-led Covid-19 relief efforts across the United States.

That figure includes funds managed by more than 325 community foundations in all 50 states that have provided figures to the Community Foundation Public Awareness Initiative.

Much of that money is already at work in communities -- with more to come over the coming weeks.

When Steve Kendall was growing up, the highlight of his week was the family trip to the local library. At an early age, his parents taught him that knowledge was power, easily found in the pages of books. He and his wife, Laraine, attribute much of their success to their lifelong love of reading.

Intrigued by research showing better outcomes for children who were able to read on grade level by third grade, they wondered what rural libraries could accomplish if they were empowered with focused funding to get children excited about reading.

That shared love of reading led the Kendalls to start the Georgia Rural Library Initiative (GRLI), a decade-long series of investments in rural county libraries in partnership with the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta.

Foundation for the Carolinas has distributed its first round of grants to help those affected by Hurricane Florence.

It joins community foundations in several other regions of the country that have set up and administered funds to support those who have been affected by hurricanes, floods, tornadoes, mass shootings, and wildfires this year.

Like most community foundations, The Miami Foundation exists to do much more than help donors give money to their favorite causes.

It also aims to do something much more profound: to identify important community problems and play a leading role in engaging its residents to address these problems.

Fifty years after he was assassinated in Memphis, Tenn., Martin Luther King Jr.’s presence remains strong in this Southern city.

A special series of grants by the Community Foundation of Greater Memphis aims to make sure Dr. King’s vision continues to positively shape his former hometown for years to come.