A Milestone Moment for Our Community

By June 30, 2021, the Community Foundation for the Alleghenies passed the $100 million threshold in total assets. $101,635,551 to be exact. While reaching the $100 million threshold is admirable, what does it really mean?

What it means is that we are a growing, healthy, local foundation with more assets, which provides more flexibility to address important community needs opportunities. It adds weight to our efforts. It shows resilience in our community as we recover from
some of the hits we’ve taken and provides a legacy for our community’s future. Perhaps best of all, because this came from you, not from a Rockefeller or Bill Gates, this reveals our community’s grassroots strength, something in which all of us should
take a bit of pride.

Implicit in this asset growth is that the Community Foundation possesses a level of trust, credibility, and operational sophistication to manage and grow such an amount. To this point, this year the Foundation was recognized with the highest possible rank of
transparency, a Platinum Seal, through GuideStar by Candid. This progress is a testament not only to our staff, but also to those who dedicate time to serving on our board and committees. We would like to welcome Dr. Tom Otis and Deacon Jeffrey
Wilson to the board, and also Michelle Tokarsky, who has rejoined the board and Executive Committee. And we welcome Alan Metzler and Kyle Kunkle, who have joined the Finance Committee; and Craig Saylor, who has joined the Investment Committee. Allie Hoffman has joined the Somerset County Advisory Board and Haley Feaster, Dr. Tom Otis, and Alison Hostetler have joined the Bedford County Advisory Board.

After nearly 30 years, Dr. Donato Zucco has stepped down from the board. Don’s counsel will be missed, but his support over the years is greatly appreciated. Also, the passing of Gary Horner and Raymond DiBattista should be noted. Gary was a founding member of the Foundation and was the attorney who filed our incorporation documents 31 years ago, and Ray served on CFA’s board for nearly 20 years.

In this year’s Annual Report, you will read about the newly established Engagement Committee and its founding members. We believe you will hear more from them in the upcoming years. We appreciate their dedication and volunteer leadership. We also welcome Emily Wood to our staff as Executive and HR Assistant.

We hope you’ll take the time to review the information we’ve pulled together here, from lists of grants and grantees to statements of financial position and activities. We also have included a list of all our donors from the past fiscal year, and much more.

Best wishes, and thank you for your continued support.

Mark Pasquerilla
Board Chair

Mike Kane
President and Executive Director

Many Thanks

As always, there are a lot of people to thank for making the Foundation what it is. Over 120 volunteers serve on various grant and scholarship committees, and we thank you for your efforts. We also want to acknowledge our hard-working community partners—nonprofits and grassroots efforts that continue to flourish, such as the Cambria County BackPack Project. CFA administers the AmeriCorps membership that allows for a coordinator who engages volunteers and makes sure meals make it to kids who need them. We appreciate the time and talent that so many people commit to making the project a success.

We also want to thank Mark Thomas in Bedford and the Somerset County Commissioners for providing us office spaces in those counties and AmeriServ Financial for hosting us at our Johnstown office.