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A room full of some of the community's most involved community members had not an empty seat in sight.
The 37th annual meeting of the Northern Chautauqua Community Foundation was recently held at Erie 2 BOCES in Fredonia. At its annual meeting, the foundation reported 16 new community funds, 16 new bequest society members, and $2.4 million in contributions.
The foundation also spoke at length of its $10 million Today Tomorrow Together campaign. The foundation stated, "Working hand in hand with community members we are increasing our endowment by $10 million to further expand our impact in our community."
NCCF President Nancy Adams Fry said, "This campaign is about increasing the community funds and the power of the Community Foundation to do the work that's going on today."
To contribute to the Today Tomorrow Together campaign, members of the community are encouraged to donate to establish a fund, which can be founded beginning at $3,500, or to contribute to an existing fund.
The foundation awarded 438 grants in the past year, including sizable contributions to the Westfield Memorial Hospital Foundation to assist its Physical Therapy Department; the Grant Arts Service Initiative to fund the documentary titled "Midway Trolley Park: Midway Memories" which was broadcast on PBS; and the American Red Cross of WNY for Emergency and Recovery Assistance.
The foundation also highlighted its progress with partnerships and collaborations, including a partnership with The Capacity Lab, in which $201,000 of local funding led to a $750,000 grant awarded by the Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Foundation. The foundation also highlighted a relationship with the Chautauqua County Partnership for Economic Growth, in which a $100,000 grant that was awarded by NCCF resulted in a return of $86 for every $1 given.
A major fundraising event for the foundation was titled Give Big CHQ, which raised $328,934 from 2,354 individual donors for 125 organizations in Chautauqua County.
"It just really brings the whole community together in a wonderful way," said Leslie Wille, Community Engagement Coordinator for the Northern Chautauqua Community Foundation. "... I personally think that's pretty incredible."
The foundation's next major fundraiser is Give 716, supported by the Buffalo Bills and the Buffalo Sabres foundations. The event begins Sunday (7/16) at 7:16 p.m., and runs until 7:16 a.m. on July 18. "This is something I am super excited about," Wille said.
Another campaign to raise awareness for NCCF is the "My NCCF Story" video project, in which community members are encouraged to share their reason for supporting the foundation.
"One of our goals through this campaign is not just to increase the endowment, but also to increase awareness in the community in general of who we are, what we do, why we're doing it, and why it's important," Wille said.
As part of the foundation's treasury report, the foundation had $312,416 of cash and cash equivalents in 2022, with total assets equaling $32,783,815. The total assets dropped from $38,543,075 in 2021, but the cash and cash equivalents were up more than $100,000, from $204,191 in 2021.
In 2022, the foundation outperformed its index by 1.3% and ranks near the top of its peer group of similar sized foundations. As of June 23 of this year, the foundation's portfolio increased more than 6% to north of $34 million.
NCCF is led by President Nancy Adams Fry, Vice President David Travis, Treasurer John "Doc" Hamels, and Secretary Rachel Foley. At the meeting, Board Members Kathy Brinkman and Susan Wells were both recognized for 10 years of service. Voting Members Michael Bobseine, Margie Dye, Deb Pacos and Jay Warren each retired after nine years of service.
The foundation had 29 voting members in attendance, which surpassed the required 16 members to establish a quorum. Three amendments to the bylaws were approved at the recent meeting. In addition, Hamels and Danielle Marx were re-elected as board members; Sandra Lewis was elected as a new board member; Christopher Anson, Kitty Crow, Jennifer Michalak, Jeff Passafaro, and Rachel Willow were re-elected as voting members; Laurie Dolce, Leslie Gomez, Victoria Howell-Siracuse, Jermaine Kenner, Isamar Mercado, and William Stock were elected as new voting members; and Sylvester Cleary, Rachel Foley, Josiah Lamp, Kyle Leikam, and Monica Simpson were elected for nominating.