Our Grants
RFF Grants are awarded in the fields of:
Care for Others - RFF supports nonprofit initiatives that provide mental, behavioral, and physical healthcare and crisis assistance for marginalized populations.
Hunger and Thirst - RFF supports nonprofit initiatives which provide clean water infrastructures, nutritional and food access programs, and development for sustainable hunger solutions.
Shelter - RFF supports nonprofit initiatives that assist individuals and families experiencing homelessness or poverty.
Community Enrichment - RFF supports nonprofit initiatives that uplift and inspire community collaboration in the areas of education, the arts, and recreation.
Below is specific information about what we are looking for in a potential partner.
How To Apply
The Rust Family Foundation awards grants in accord with the following beliefs.
We believe all people are the beloved of God and possess worth, value, and dignity.
We believe in the equitable access to the basic resources of life; including food, shelter, healthcare, and education, and we desire to support organizations that serve marginalized populations.
We believe stewardship is relational rather than transactional, requiring understanding, trust, friendship, and accountability.
We believe in using an equity lens as we review grant proposals and will work to ensure our grantmaking enables outcomes that build and reinforce just systems.
The Rust Family Foundation grants to non-profit organizations qualified under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Applications are reviewed on a quarterly basis.
In general, the Rust Family Foundation does not award grants in support of:
Debt Reduction
Operating Budgets
Individuals
Endowments
Capital Campaigns
Government Agencies
Non-Profit & Faith-Based Grants
RFF supports non-profit and faith-based organizations who are doing God’s work in the world. Our partnerships are formed on four beliefs…
We believe all people are the beloved of God and possess worth, value, and dignity.
We believe in equitable access to the basic resources of life, including hunger and thirst, shelter, healthcare, and education.
We believe stewardship is relational rather than transactional, requiring understanding, trust, friendship, and accountability.
We believe in equity (using an equity lens) in our stewardship as we support organizations that are serving marginalized populations and building just systems.
Areas of Giving:
Care for Others
We support nonprofit initiatives in the areas of mental, behavioral, and physical healthcare, crisis assistance, faith-based organizations, marginalized populations, and solutions to humanitarian issues.
Community Enrichment
We support nonprofit initiatives that uplift and inspire community collaboration in the areas of education, the arts and recreation.
Hunger and Thirst
We support nonprofit initiatives which provide clean water infrastructures, nutritional and food access programs, and development for sustainable hunger solutions.
Shelter
We support nonprofit initiatives that assist those experiencing homelessness or poverty.
Faith & Vocation Initiative
RFF believes work is a vital element of God’s creative design and a means through which individuals secure life necessities while serving the common good. RFF also believes the church is responsible for encouraging excellence in the workplace and empowering workers in every field to fulfill their vocation “as for the Lord,” (Colossians 3:23).
RFF seeks to help churches strengthen the connection between faith and vocation through congregational learning events, coaching, worship leadership and financial grants.
RFF selects up to five congregations each year to participate in the Faith and Vocation Initiative. This program includes a Faith and Vocation Workshop, a $5,000 congregational grant, and coaching. Churches selected for this program will be expected to incorporate a Faith and Vocation emphasis in their discipleship ministry and develop creative strategies for use of the financial grant.
Work as Witness
Thirty years in the quick-service food industry and a lifetime of community service will teach you the value of work. And if you commit to doing your work with integrity and a commitment to excellence, you’ll learn a lesson or two about prayer as well. Over the course of their careers as McDonald’s franchisees, Kenneth and Lisa Rust learned that work becomes an answer to a divine call when it glorifies God and serves one’s neighbor. Therefore, RFF seeks to help people of all vocations engage work to secure a good life and make a valuable contribution to the well-being of their community and world.
RFF finds inspiration for the Work as Witness emphasis in the biblical concept of Avodah. Found in the book of Exodus, Avodah refers to the seamless connection between worship, work and service and encourages workers to give prayerful attention to God’s presence in their work. As we integrate work and faith, work becomes a pathway to worship as we serve both God and our neighbor.
RFF’s Work as Witness emphasis includes:
Individual and Corporate Coaching
Faith and Vocation Congregational Grants
Rust Aviation
Kenneth Rust engages in charitable flying as an extension of the RFF’s priorities.
In 2021, Kenneth acted upon a lifelong fascination with aviation and aerospace and began training for his private pilot’s license. Over the next two years he added both multi engine and instrument ratings and met the time and experience for charitable flying.
During 2024, Kenneth flew several missions with Operation AirDrop for Hurricane Helene relief. Flights originated in Concord, North Carolina and went in and out of the North Carolina and Tennessee mountains. The most personally meaningful flight was into the Western Carolina Regional Airport in Andrews, North Carolina, home of his maternal grand-mother’s family.
Kenneth is now a registered Command Pilot and flies for Mercy Flight Southeast, an affiliate of the Angel Flight Network. The network provides air transport for medical patients and family members to out of town appointments and treatment, reducing their cost of travel. To date, these service flights have been in Georgia and North and South Carolina.
Kenneth is amazed at how his childhood interest in aviation expanded into a way of service in retirement.
