Bedford County Endowments
News from Kay Reynolds, Bedford County Endowments
Last year the Bedford County Endowments celebrated our first Founders Day, honoring Robert Sweet, the former CEO of Creative Pultrusions, for his philanthropy in our community.
This year we are celebrating another milestone, the establishment of the Bedford County Community Fund. Similar to what our fiends in Somerset County have done, we are working to grow a fund for grantmaking specific to worthy projects in our home county.
We are inviting old friends and new friends to join us as we launch the Bedford County Endowment Fund at the Omni Bedford Springs Resort this September 24th, 2011 for an afternoon of tethered balloon rides on the Great Lawn, provided by WindsAloft Ballooning Co, picnic fare, trail walks, a scavenger hunt and s’mores by the Fire Pit. You are invited to come along, please contact me at kreynolds@cfalleghenies.org.
It is our pleasure to serve a partner with Bedford County’s new Food Bank administrator, Mt Pisgah AME Zion Church Fund. We also were pleased to support the new building the Bedford Food Outreach has made available to help with meeting the food distribution needs in Bedford County.
We are also partnering with a great new group. Bedford People for Parks Fund has broken ground for their playground at the Green in town. The space is very nice, encouraging families to spend time in this underutilized area. A very dynamic group of people got this off the ground this past spring.
The Memorial Hospital of Bedford County Foundation Fund continues its generous scholarships in Bedford County. In fact, this fund provides more scholarship support than any fund at the Community Foundation. (Go Bedford County!) This year, the Hospital Foundation and the new Thomas E. Bailey Memorial Scholarship for UPMC Bedford Memorial Hospital will provide nearly $74,000 in scholarship support to 45 Bedford County students.
Thanks to the hard work of our Bedford County Advisory Committee we are kicking off our “Smart Living’ series in November.” You will hear more about this soon. This series is for local individuals and wealth professionals to learn about financial planning issues of all kinds, not just philanthropy, that can help them to take better care of themselves and their families. Please consider yourself invited to attend!
I want to thank the Bedford County Endowments Advisory Committee for their hard work to make our Foundation a part of the community. They are good citizens and it is my privilege to work with them.
Finally, I would like to pass along a wonderful quote from our friend Lynn Ashe, a member of our committee, about why she started a fund through the Bedford County Endowments. I think it captures what we are all about.
“The Lynn and Craig Ashe Fund was established because Craig and I felt very strongly about supporting education and the arts and providing social services to the community. It was established with Bedford County Endowments because BCE has the resources to grow the fund by pooling it with other funds and making the most advantageous investments. What’s more, BCE handles all the pesky administrative details. I exercise as much or as little control over distribution as I choose and BCE does all the rest.
The beauty of an endowment is that support doesn’t end when the supporter ends. We can continue to provide for the causes we care about long after we’ve shuffled off this mortal coil. Craig is gone but his legacy is very much alive.”
New Bedford County Endowments Funds
- People for Parks Fund-to establish a playground at The Green in Bedford Borough, assisting in fundraising, maintenance and upkeep. As well as assisting in additional park/playground initiatives in and around Bedford Borough, to be used by visitors and residents in Bedford County.
- Bedford County Community Fund-to support Bedford County projects that deal with the arts, education, economic development, children and youth, health and human services, heritage programs, civic affairs, religious and environmental programs. A local advisory committee made of residents from throughout the county will decide what projects will receive funding.
- Bedford County Children, Youth and Families Fund-to support the efforts of the donors in any endeavor by developing and implementing programs that benefit children, youth, and families in Bedford County. The funding goals include but are not limited to Protecting Children, Promoting Strong Families, Promoting Child Well-Being and Providing Timely Permanency for those in need within Bedford County.
- Kevin A. Stultz Scholarship Fund-to serve Kevin's legacy of community service and dedication by providing scholarship funds to county residents interested in public service in the EMS field (First Responders, EMT, and Paramedic).
- Bedford County Food Bank Fund-for feeding the hungry and assisting in the administration of the Bedford County Food Bank.
Other Bedford County Endowments Funds
- Chestnut Ridge Christian Fund-to benefit the Bedford County area through grants to human service organizations which respond to changing needs of churches, people, and non-profit groups in the area.
- Keystone Christian Leadership and Career Development-to support Christian career development and educational opportunities.
- Community Foundation - Everett Area Fund-to promote and fund recreational, cultural, civic and educational projects and activities in and for the citizens of the Everett area.
- Virginia Jean Wright Endowment for Tenley Park Fund-to benefit Tenley Park, a public park owned by the Borough of Everett in Bedford County, Pennsylvania.
- Shuster Family Scholarship Fund-to provide a scholarship to graduating students from Everett Area High School pursuing a post-secondary education who have shown achievement in outstanding citizenship, leadership qualities, and community involvement, in honor of Bud Shuster's 70th Birthday. Created as part of the 100 Families Project.
- (100) Thousand Book Endowment Fund (Everett Free Library)-to benefit Everett Free Library, by providing a perpetual source of income for library materials and by providing a perpetual means to honor those contributors, or their designees, to the Fund, with recognition for new items purchased each year. Created as part of the 100 Families Project.
- Bedford County Regional Education Foundation Fund-part of the Bedford County Endowments, to provide an endowment benefiting the Bedford County Campus of Allegany College of Maryland. Funds within the Bedford County Regional Education Foundation Fund: John Jordan Memorial Scholarship-Dr. Earl Shope Memorial Scholarship-Memorial Hospital of Bedford County-Everett Cash Mutual Ins. Group-Dick Rice Memorial Scholarship-BCREF (Endowment)-BCREF (Discretionary)-New Hope Foundation Scholarship.
- Bedford County Library Fund-to benefit the Bedford County Library.
- Lynn and Craig Ashe Fund-a donor advised fund benefiting the arts, education and social services in Bedford County.
- Bedford Summer Music Festival Fund-to provide support for the Bedford Music Festival. Established in January 2006, the fund assists The Pennsylvania Consort in raising funds for the summer festival, which takes place each year in Bedford.
- Memorial Hospital of Bedford County Foundation Fund-to provide scholarships to Bedford County students who are interested in pursuing a career in the health care field and who intend to return to Bedford County upon graduation. Additionally, the fund supports other charitable efforts in Bedford County, including donations for equipment and program support to UPMC Bedford Memorial, scholarship support to the Allegany College of Maryland and Bedford County Chamber of Commerce Foundation.
- Job Mann Trust Fund-to provide financial assistance to worthy and needy residents of Bedford County in their educational pursuits in preparation for serving as a Minister of the Gospel (i.e., "Parish Pastor") in churches which practice evangelical Christianity.
- Reynolds Family Fund-to assist any Student with cerebral palsy, with books, supplies, equipment or transportation in connection with educational needs in high school, college or trade school.
- Frear Family Fund-to benefit organizations or causes that the Frear family designates as recipients of support. The Officers Christian Fellowship will be the organization designated for support in the first five years of the family fund.
- White Sulphur Springs Retreat and Conference Center Fund-to support various projects of The White Sulphur Springs Retreat and Conference Center/Officers Christian Fellowship.
- Copley Fund for Critters-to insure that the Bedford County Humane Society and/or other organizations with the same mission are adequately funded. The welfare of starving, abused and neglected animals is to be the focus of the fund.
- UPMC Bedford Memorial Hospital Employee Emergency Fund-to provide short-term assistance to UPMC Bedford Memorial employees and their immediate families when uncontrollable events lead to extraordinary financial stress.
- Rick and Trudy Barefoot Fund-to support any endeavor that enhances Chestnut Ridge High School students' education.
- Thomas E. Bailey Memorial Scholarship for UPMC Bedford Memorial Hospital-to honor the life of Thomas E. Bailey, especially his service to the greater Bedford community and to UPMC Bedford Memorial Hospital, where he served on its Board of Directors for more than thirty years. The scholarship will provide annual awards in perpetuity for the first year of study at a four year college or university to graduating high school seniors in Bedford County who are planning a professional career in health care.
- Bedford County Community Christmas Fund-to support the effort of the Donors to provide charitable gifts of toys, meals, and other needed services to underserved children and families of Bedford County.
