Every year, the Schuylkill Area Community Foundation faces a never-ending challenge.
“It’s communication, trying to get the word out to educate donors how to establish a fund or donate to an existing fund as well as the grants and scholarships that we have to offer,” Eileen Kuperavage, SACF executive director, said Wednesday.
This takes strategic planning by the foundation’s board of directors and staff. And in the past year, representatives of the charitable nonprofit organization — which manages $17.5 million in endowments — started visiting schools in Schuylkill County to tell students about its scholarship and awards.
“In 2015, I got to meet lots of new people. I visited many local schools. The guidance counselors coordinate it. They invite us to come and share what opportunities we have for funding for scholarships and awards for higher education,” Marybeth Matz, the foundation’s assistant program manager, said Wednesday.
“We’ve always had scholarships and awards that support students within the county. But we’ve decided to do a better job in sharing that message, not only with the administration but also with the students themselves and parents who attend financial aid nights at the individual schools,” Kuperavage said.
As of Wednesday, the foundation had 34 scholarship programs and 40 grant programs related to higher education, said Sharon Koszyk, the foundation’s program manager.
Local high school students interested in learning more about those programs can contact the foundation at its office at 216 S. Centre St., Pottsville, call the office at 570-624-7223, or visit its website at sacfoundation.com.
This year, the foundation is marking its 49th year.
On Wednesday, Kuperavage and her staff offered updates on how the foundation has grown in the past year. In particular, it added three new funds and it honed its mission statement.
Previously, it was: “The mission of Schuylkill Area Community Foundation is to serve donors by developing, managing, and investing their contributions and to serve the community by distributing earnings, annually, in accordance with donor wishes to the community at large. These distributions include but are not limited to: arts and culture, education, environment, health and human services, and youth and volunteer programs.”
Now, it is: “The mission of the Schuylkill Area Community Foundation is to serve the interests of the philanthropic donors and to become stewards of financial gifts that support our community.” And growth has been steady, Kuperavage said.
It ended 2012 with a total of $13.3 million in endowments. It ended 2013 with $15.7 million. It ended 2014 with $17.3 million. And, as of Wednesday, Kuperavage said the foundation had $17.5 million in the bank.
At the end of 2013, the foundation had 149 funds. As of Wednesday, it had 158, Kuperavage said.
“In 2015, we had three funds that came in,” Kuperavage said.
They were:
• The Fred V. Knecht Memorial Fund, named for the publisher emeritus of The Call and The Press & Herald newspapers. Knecht, Schuylkill Haven, died July 9, 2010. The estate settlement of $359,151.58 was put into the fund. “The annual earnings from the fund will be granted by his children to financially support qualified organizations, projects or programs principally serving one or more of the geographic areas encompassed by the Blue Mountain School District, Schuylkill Haven Area School District, Pine Grove Area School District and Williams Valley School District,” Kuperavage said.
• The Walk In Art Center Endowment Fund, to benefit the center at 110 W. Columbia St, Schuylkill Haven. “The foundation will accept donations for the WIAC Endowment Fund in any amount throughout the year,” Kuperavage said.
• The Reagan Reilly Hope Fund, established in July 2015 by Brianna Osceles, a native of New Philadelphia who now resides in Las Vegas. It’s a charitable endowment. “The fund earnings of the endowment will be distributed annually to qualified organizations or qualified activities or programs which support people in Schuylkill County who are in recovery for drug or alcohol addiction,” Kuperavage said.
Local nonprofit organizations seeking grants from the foundation this year will have to get their applications in soon.
As per tradition, on Jan. 1, local nonprofit groups — federally recognized 501(c)3 organizations serving Schuylkill County and its surrounding area — can apply to the foundation for grant funding for projects.
“We take applications from January 1 until March 15. Again, we consider applications for projects, not operational expenses,” Kuperavage said.
“Normally, these grant awards range from $100 to $2,000,” according to the foundation’s website at www.sacfoundation.com.
On an average year, the foundation receives “about 60 to 70 applications,” Koszyk said.
Looking ahead, Matz said the foundation will continue on in the spirit of a quote by industrialist Henry Ford.
“Coming together is a beginning, staying together is progress, and working together is success.”
Matz read it aloud Wednesday at the foundation’s office.
The Schuylkill Area Community Foundation opened in Ashland in 1967. It moved its office to Pottsville in 1999. Then it moved to Schuylkill Haven in 2004, and returned to Pottsville in 2008, according to Kuperavage.
“Our investment manager is Schuylkill Capital Management,” Kuperavage said.
Half of the endowment is invested with Oppenheimer at 101 S. Centre St., Pottsville, and the other half is with F.N.B. Wealth Management, 396 S. Centre St., Pottsville, Kuperavage said.
The foundation manages five types of funds: designated funds, donor advised funds, field of interest fund, scholarship funds and unrestricted funds, according to its annual report, which is available on its website.