-Valerie Rudy-Valli, Vice President of Major Gifts, Great Rivers Greenway
There’s something that I want everyone in our region to know: all 135 miles of greenways here in St. Louis region are free to use and open to anyone wanting to get out for that early morning powerwalk, commute to work on foot or by bike, get the kids out of the house, socialize with friends and family, step away from their desk, or any other reason you can think of to be out on the greenways. Each mile is owned by the community and exists to connect us all with a shared space capable of building community and economic opportunity.
One thing residents may not know is that Great Rivers Greenway is able to provide and support equitably beneficial access for all in our region through generous donations and volunteering from our community. As vice president of major gifts, it’s not only my role to facilitate philanthropy of all kinds, but to communicate how we as an agency are ethically leveraging gifted resources to maximize their impact on our community. That’s no small job.



About 10 years ago, the Great Rivers Greenway Foundation was established with the charter of enhancing and enriching the mission of Great Rivers Greenway and the vision of making the St. Louis region a more vibrant place to live, work and play by developing a network of greenways. As a 501(c)3 nonprofit, the foundation allows people to support the mission directly, both through their generous donations as well as their volunteer hours and advocacy on our behalf. As an agency dedicated to all taxpayers across the region, it’s important we’re capable of demonstrating value to our evolving region in the coming years and decades. The Great Rivers Greenway Foundation is just one more way we can do this.
Working as a connector between GRG and our community, I hold equal responsibility to both. It is of course my job to raise funds and charitable gifts for greenways, but I am equally committed to assuring every donor – no matter the scale – that their contribution will produce a direct impact on our community in a way that is meaningful to them. We have a proud record of returning 95% of every public dollar received to the community in the form of trail builds and other amenities. What this number means is that we’re a highly efficient organization routinely providing top-tier services to the region with low operational costs. In other words, funds donated to Great Rivers Greenway aren’t getting tied up in bureaucracy or otherwise wasted. Through transparency and record keeping, donations can easily be traced back into the community. It’s also why we have a reputation as an agency that gets things done and follows through on commitments made while fundraising.
Giving, like each individual’s relationship with the greenways, is dynamic and doesn’t fall into any singular category. What most of us imagine when we think about giving to an organization like the Great Rivers Greenway Foundation is some form of monetary contribution; be it a one time, monthly, annual or planned occurrence. Giving takes many forms and impacts the community in a variety of ways. People choose to give to the greenways because they see and feel the impact the agency brings to their community and the value our projects provide. They understand that through their support of our mission, they’re investing in making our region a better place to live, work, and raise a family for generations to come.


