Recognizing the Impact of Community Foundations

During the week of November 12-18, 2010, The Community Foundation of Herkimer & Oneida Counties will join more than 700 community foundations across America for Community Foundation Week activities. Community foundations represent one of the fastest-growing forms of philanthropy in the United States and hold nearly $50 billion in assets. Every state in the U.S. is home to at least one community foundation—large and small, urban, and rural—that is fostering local collaboration and innovation to address persistent civic and economic challenges.

“In a down economy, with limited resources, and a growing need for services to help families in need, we are more determined than ever to bring our community partners together to find innovative and effective solutions to some of our most challenging social problems,” said Foundation President/CEO Peggy O’Shea. “Our community is stepping up and getting more creative in how we provide support that people need during tough times.”

The Community Foundation recently collaborated with Mohawk Valley EDGE and United Way of the Valley and greater Utica Area on a Community Indicators project, to identify our area’s greatest needs. The Community Foundation also funded literacy studies for the greater Utica area and Herkimer County, which paved the way for two New York State Department of Higher Education Literacy Zones and leveraged $1.5M in funding for the programs.

Further, the Foundation established a Corporate Partners Program with area businesses to galvanize charitable resources and maximize their impact for public good, recognizing that “we can do more together than alone,” in the words of President/CEO O’Shea. To date in 2010, nearly 300 grants and $1.8 million have been distributed to charities serving the community to meet essential needs.

Launched in 1989 through a proclamation by former President George H.W. Bush, the first Community Foundation Week included a congressional briefing about the work of community foundations throughout America and their collaborative approach to working with the public, private, and nonprofit sectors to address community problems.