Pay It Forward event to address tax laws, estate planning, charitable giving

/in /by

The Elk County Community Foundation (ECCF) welcomes featured speakers, Padraic McGrath of McGrath CPA, LLC, on left, and Thomas C. Hoffman, II, Esq. of Knox McLaughlin Gornall & Sennett to its Pay It Forward event on Monday, November 19 from 2 to 7 pm at the ECCF office and lobby of the Franklin Center on South St. Marys Street. This Open House event is an opportunity for all community minded individuals to learn how you can make your resources, large or small, work for both you and your community.

McGrath will present on the 2018 tax law changes and strategies on how to maximize charitable giving. He will also explain charitable IRA’s and how clients can still benefit from them. Also speaking will be Thomas C. Hoffman, II, Esq. of Knox McLaughlin Gornall & Sennett, who will share information on creating wills and estate plans and incorporating charitable giving into your plans. Hoffman will speak at both 3 pm and 5 pm, while McGrath will present at 4 pm and 6 pm. Reservations are not necessary.

The educational event will also feature informative table displays by area non-profit organizations that have Endowment Funds at the Foundation. Come learn more about ways, large and small, that you can help organizations like the Christian Food Bank, CAPSEA, Boys and Girls Club of St. Marys, Dickinson Center, St. Marys Library, Elk Co. Catholic School System, Ridgway Library, Oak Manor and ECCOTA. Chat with their representatives and enjoy appetizers, beverages, and door prizes including a TV. The public is invited to stop by anytime between 2 and 7 p.m. For more information contact ECCF at eccf@elkcountyfoundation.org or call 834.2125.

Community Foundation’s Ridgway Borough Charitable Fund awards $18,950 in grants

/in /by

Community Foundation’s Ridgway Borough Charitable Fund awards $18,950 in grants

The Ridgway Borough Charitable Fund, under the management of the Elk County Community Foundation (ECCF), recently awarded $18,950 in grants to eight non-profit organizations, municipalities and schools. The Ridgway Borough Charitable Fund is an endowed fund established from a gift received from the estate of Sara-Jane Stackpole. The purpose of the fund is to provide support to organizations who contribute to the quality of life of the residents of the Borough of Ridgway. An advisory committee made up of Ridgway community leaders and residents is appointed by the Board of Directors of ECCF to review grant applications and distribute grants each year.

The Guardian Angel Center seeks to supplement the clothing needs of children from the Ridgway area that they serve. They received $4400.

The Elk County Historical Society received a check for $4000 to help with the conversion of 333 reels of microfilm containing Elk County Newspapers dating back to 1885. The film will be made into digital images which will be stored on an external hard drive. The data will be searchable using optical character recognition. (OCR)

The Knights of Colunbus#1064 plans to purchase audio/visual equipment including a PA system and projector with the $2,180 that they received.  This funding will allow them to grow their community events which currently include a weekly public movie night during the summer, open mic nights at the Christopher Club, etc.

Project Gifts for Elk County hopes to provide eligible children with new toys at Christmas and other times of need such as Fires, Domestics etc. with the $1000 grant they received

The Master Gardener’s program through the Penn State Extension Office is planning to establish a Ridgway Community Demonstration Garden to educate the community on the best horticulture/gardening methods and practices. With the $1500 they received they also hope to supply garden produce to those in need.

Ridgway Animal Haven is building a new holding facility for the stray and abused animals in the Ridgway borough and township and will use the $2500 grant they received.

The Ridgway Heritage Council is re-printing the Walking Tour of Historic Homes Brochure along with its complimenting Historic Interpretive Signs Booklet. The original printing was in 2005 with 10,300 copies printed and only 50 of them remaining at the Ridgway-Elk County Welcome Center. Their grant of $1870 will be used for this purpose.

The Ridgway Free Library Association’s goal is to be able to secure enough craft supplies to offer an excellent weekly story time this fall through next spring. The $1500 will also help to fund the craft supplies, themed books, and some prizes necessary for their Summer Reading Program in 2019.

This year grant application requests totaled over $63,870. Grant monies were available to fund $18,950 of these requests. The Elk County Community Foundation encourages local residents and businesses to consider making a tax-deductible donation to help grow this community-oriented fund and increase the granting dollars available each year. Donations to the Ridgway Charitable Fund can be sent in care of the Elk County Community Foundation at PO Box 934 in St. Marys. For more information, visit the Community Foundation’s new website at www.elkcountyfoundation.org or contact ECCF at 834-2125. ECCF is a non-profit organization that strives to strengthen our region through development, stewardship and grant making as it works with donors to achieve their philanthropic goals.

St. Marys Sons of the American Legion establishes scholarship fund

/in /by

The Board of Directors of the Elk County Community Foundation (ECCF) is exited to announce a new scholarship fund established by the St. Marys Sons of the American Legion Post 103 to recognize and create awareness among our youth of what the military has done for our country. The scholarship will be open to graduating seniors who are attend either St. Marys Area High School or Elk County Catholic High School. Along with other criteria, students must complete an essay about, who through the military, has had influenced their life.

The Sons of the Legion join both the St. Marys Legion Post 103 and the St. Marys American Legion Auxiliary in creating a scholarship through the Elk County Community Foundation.  A complete list of the 94 scholarships, available for area students, administered by the Foundation is available on their new website at www.elkcountyfoundation.org.

In addition to the $500 award by the Sons of the Legion, the Community Foundation is one of 38 state wide partners with PATH (Partners for Access to Higher Education). Students who receive a scholarship award from the Community Foundation may qualify for matching dollars through PHEAA and the PATH program. In 2018 nearly $70,000 was matched to our local students.

The Elk County Community Foundation is a non-profit organization that strives to strengthen our region through development, stewardship and grant making as it works with donors to achieve their philanthropic goals. For more information contact ECCF at 834-2125 or by email at eccf@windstream.net.

Pictured left to right in photo: Front: Paula Eddy, Elk County Community Foundation Executive Director and Dennis Haberberger, President of the St. Marys Sons of the American Legion; back: Michael Pollick, Pete Fledderman, Stacy Wegemer and Ken Gnan, all members of the St. Marys Sons of the American Legion

Women Who Care grants $30,000 to local non-profits

/in /by

The Fall Business meeting of Women Who Care (WWC) was held at the Highlands in St. Marys on Thursday, October 4, 2018 with over 170 members, guests and presenters attending. The membership awarded $30,000 in grants to nine non-profit organizations.

Area organizations receiving awards were: Christian Food Bank $2,000 for storage shed; St. Marys Area School District $3,600 for Food for Friends backpack program; Community Nurses $1,790 for ATA transportation for clients; Boys &  Girls Club of St. Marys $5,000 for start-up funds for 2019 Summer Program; Messengers Supporting Recovery $3,000 for A Home for MSR ; Big Maple Farms Therapy $5,000 for arena base and permanent seating; Johnsonburg Area School District $4,000 for character education classes; Elk County Humane Society $5,000 for low-cost spay and neuter clinics; and Elk County Historical Society $610 towards technology upgrades.

An additional Donor Advisor for a Day award is presented at each Annual Meeting when a member in attendance has the opportunity to award a $500 gift to the non-profit organization of her choice. Lynette Kraus was the lucky winner of the drawing and awarded her gift to the Elk County Humane Society. During the meeting Doris Stackpole, a founding member and the first chairperson of WWC who passed away this year, was remembered for her role in establishing the organization. The crowd was entertained by a fascinating slide presentation of beautiful wildlife photos presented by Kane photographer, Rocky Holland and his wife Marcy.

The 2018 granting monies were made possible through donations made by the 229 area women who are members of Women Who Care, a philanthropic giving project of the Elk County Community Foundation (ECCF). WWC has granted a total of $188,200 to community organizations since its inception in 2009.

With a goal to provide grants to local charitable organizations, women make an annual minimum contribution ranging from $100 to $1,000. Their donation entitles them to a vote on what agencies will receive the dollars as well as the opportunity to enjoy two social and entertaining events each year. All area women are invited to join Women Who Care. For more information contact ECCF at 834-2125, by email at eccf@elkcountyfoundation.org, or visit their new website at www.elkcountyfoundation.org.

Community Foundation makes Grant to Elk County Historical Society

/in /by

Recently Gennaro Aiello, president of the Elk County Community Foundation Community met with volunteers from the Elk County Historical Society to present a $5,000 check from their recent granting cycle for their microfilm project.  This was one of six grants totally $35,400 that were awarded this year from the Elk County Community Development Fund.  This Board of Directors reviews applications bi-annually and the criteria is such that they generally look to support community development initiatives that will enhance the economic and community well-being of Elk County.  Distribution from the grants can be used to meet special project or program needs of organizations serving the people of the County.

 

This grant will help provide the funds needed to have CompuCom convert the Elk County Historical Society’s newspaper collection from microfilm to digital images that will be searchable. The total cost of the project is $19,750.  The Society’s goal is to preserve Elk County’s history in the best way possible. The group met in the genealogy room at the Historical Society where they showed Aiello just a few of the 333 rolls of microfilm. It is their hope that by having the newspapers digitized from rolls of microfilm they will not only be able to better preserve the information held therein, they will also make the data searchable and thus, more useful. This project will enable the Society to share the region’s rich history with more people, faster.  Several Board members were educators and they have volunteered to create lessons that can be used with school students as well as our community.  The newspapers date back to​ ​1885​ ​and include the following publications: The Ridgway Advocate: Jan 15, 1885  to Dec 26, 1929; The Ridgway Daily Record: (now known as Ridgway Record) Dec 1, 1903 to 2017; The Weekly Herald: (St Marys-Kersey area)  July 14, 1889 to 12-24-1904.

The Community Foundation also administers a number of other funds that makes grants throughout the year.  Upcoming grant cycles include the Ridgway Bough Charitable Fund with a deadline of September 15 and the Harrison and Muriel Dauer Stackpole Family Fund with a deadline of October 15. Check out these and the other grant applications on their website at www.elkcountyfoundation.com or contact Paula Fritz Eddy at 814-834-2125.  The Elk County Community Foundation is a non-profit organization that manages endowed funds established by donors for area non-profit organizations.  Donor gifts are tax deductible to the full extent allowed by law.

Pictured left to right:

Linda von Hacht, Darla Schutz, Gennaro Aiello, Nancy Peterson, Kay Kinkead