New Fund Established to Support Brockway Community
New Fund Established to Support Brockway Community
The Elk County Community Foundation recently met with local organizations and groups that will benefit from the creation of a new Fund at the Foundation. The Caroline E. Longwell Fund will provide perpetual gifts to six local agencies that include: Brockway Area High School Student Loan Fund, Brockway Mengel Memorial Library, Brockway Volunteer Hose Company, Brockway Ambulance Service, Sugar Hill Presbyterian Church and Brockway Presbyterian Church.
Caroline has been described and a generous, caring and dedicated educator in the Brockway area by the agency representative when they met for lunch at the Rocky Grill, recently. In 2006 Ms. Longwell and S & T Bank established a Charitable Remainder Unitrust. While Caroline was living it provided her with a quarterly distribution and upon her passing it will now provide a perpetual gift to the six local agencies that will be administered by the Elk County Community Foundation
Recently, Paula Fritz Eddy, Executive Director of the Foundation met with
representatives from the agencies to present the first of the annual distributions. $12,400 in all was distributed and at the luncheon where a number of stories and memories where share about Caroline and her love of her community.
Dan Hawkins and Laurie Piccirillo told us how Ms. Longwell was a motivator and one of the founders of the Brockway Area High School Student Load Fund, held and the school. She served as the Finance Secretary to the Student Loan program for many years. The program began around 1953 and has provided over $1 million of student loans to Brockway students. Caroline was also a math teacher and went on to become the guidance counselor at the high school.
Jim Grant and Rev. Clair Lundberg explained that Caroline had grown up in Sugar Grove and went to the Presbyterian church there as a child. At the time when she moved to Brockway, the Brockway and Sugar Grove churches were yoked together and during her adult years she was involved and attended services at both churches. To their knowledge Ms. Longwell remained a member at Sugar Grove Presbyterian Church.
Brockway Volunteer Hose Company’s Terry Fusine shared with the group his story of dinners that he would attend with Caroline and it seemed often he would be called out to the Hose Company for an emergency. Over the years she became interested in the training and sacrifices that the volunteers from both the Hose company and the ambulance crews were involved with. She truly valued their commitment and services to her community.
Though not able to attend the luncheon Ed Ferraro, the representative from the Brockway Mengel Memorial Library, stated the “Education was her life and including the library was a natural for Caroline. She loved helping children learn”
The mission of the Community Foundation is to strengthen our region through development, stewardship and grant making as donors achieve their philanthropic goals. Its vision is to connect people who care with causes that matter. The Foundation assists donors who are interested in starting a fund to benefit nearly any charitable organization or cause that they want to support, whether as a named fund or in the memory of a deceased family member or friend. The Caroline E. Longwell Fund that will benefit the community of Brockway through agencies that were imported to Ms. Longwell is one of 118 different funds the Foundation manages. If interested learning more about the Foundation people are encouraged to contact Paula at the Foundation by calling 814-834-2125 or visiting its website at www.elkcountyfoundation.com.
Pictured from L to R
Sitting Paula Fritz Eddy, Executive Director of the Foundation, Rev. Clair Lundberg and Jim Grant of Brockway Presbyterian Church; Laurie Piccirillo of Brockway Area School District
Standing are Terry Fustine and Brad Gankosky of the Brockway Volunteer Hose Company; Don Moore and Paul Verne of the Brockway Ambulance Services and Dan Hawkins of the Brockway Area School District.
