Berks County Community Foundation

Berks County Community Foundation[1] is a public benefit organization located in Reading, Pennsylvania, United States. The Foundation's mission is to promote philanthropy and improve the quality of life for the residents of Berks County, Pennsylvania.

Berks County Community Foundation is a member of the Council on Foundations. The Community Foundation's President, Kevin K. Murphy, is chair of the Council's Board of Directors.[2]

In 1999, the foundation donated several defibrillators to area police departments.[3]

Beatrice M. Shaffer, a resident of Reading, donor left money in her will to create a fund managed by the foundation to help Jewish programs and Jewish people in need of assistance. She died in 2006, and the creation of the fund was announced by the foundation in 2007.[4]

In 2009, Berks County Community Foundation received its largest gift ever, a bequest from Myrtle Quier, the former chairman emeritus of the Reading Eagle newspaper.[5] Her gift may have included a controlling share in the Reading Eagle Company.

The Community Foundation, which was founded in 1994 with grants from the Wyomissing Foundation, a local private foundation,[6] lets people set up charitable funds that make grants to causes they care about. For example, someone who makes a donation to a humane society every year might want to continue to make that donation every year even after they pass away. By setting up a fund at the Community Foundation, that person can be assured that a grant will go to the humane society in his or her name every year.

The Community Foundation manages hundreds of charitable funds, each created to support a cause the donor cared about. Some people create funds while they are alive so they can see the benefits of the grants they make. Others set up a fund in their will by leaving a certain amount of money or a portion of their estate to the Community Foundation and stipulating what it should be used for. Creating a fund at the Community Foundation through one's will allows donors to put money that would otherwise be used for taxes to use in the community.

References

  1. ↑ Berks County Community Foundation Official site.
  2. ↑ "Board of Directors". Council on Foundations. Retrieved 2009-06-09.
  3. ↑ Henshaw, Steven (February 15, 2009). "Many Berks County agencies lack funds to replace aging defibrillator". Reading Eagle. Retrieved 2009-02-19.
  4. ↑ "Berks foundation establishes fund for Jewish aid: It is set up with a $1.4 million gift from the estate of Beatrice M. Shaffer, widow of Dr. Irvin G. Shaffer.". Reading Eagle (Reading, PA). August 9, 2007. Retrieved 2009-02-19.
  5. ↑ Urban, Mike (March 11, 2009). "Myrtle B. Quier's $10 million bequest will help many in Berks County. Ex-Reading Eagle Company chairman emeritus's $10 million gift is one of the largest in Berks history". Reading Eagle. Retrieved 2009-06-09.
  6. ↑ "Community group spawned by Wyomissing Foundation". Reading Eagle. August 6, 2006. Retrieved 2009-06-09.

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