This is the time of year when we look for ways to show the people we love how much they mean to us. How about paying that love forward by helping someone in need?

Community Foundation for the Alleghenies has over 700 funds, almost all of which support local nonprofits in Bedford, Cambria, Indiana, and Somerset counties. Through grantmaking and charitable donations, CFA funds organizations and initiatives that improve – and sometimes save – people’s lives, right here in our communities.

CFA has deep roots in this region, where our decades of experience with local nonprofits informs our use of the funding we administer. When you give to a CFA fund, your resources go to verified organizations making good use of that support.

There are lots of ways you can donate through CFA: you can give money to a specific fund, you can give to CFA’s general fund, which supports a broad range of local initiatives, or you can create a fund of your own, dedicated to whatever cause is meaningful to you.

Visit our Funds Page to search hundreds of causes that are already supported by local donors. Or contact Donor Services Officer Paula Hencel to find out about creating your own nonprofit funding: phencel@cfalleghenies.org.

If you’d like to give someone a creative experience, visit the Arts Coalition of the Alleghenies. Here, you can purchase gift certificates for workshops, lessons, and performances from a wide variety of artistic expressions in Bedford, Cambria, Indiana, and Somerset counties.

You can also encourage friends and family to give back through their time and talent, by visiting Lift Johnstown’s “Get Connected.” This is where local organizations and agencies post their needs for volunteers with a willingness to help.

Someone in your community has need of whatever it is you have to offer. When we connect in this way, we’re all enriched by the true holiday spirit.