JOHNSTOWN, Pa. – A local philanthropic foundation has found that people thinking about the legacy they want to leave behind have some common concerns: the arts, animal welfare, alleviation of poverty and the environment.
As a result of discussions with financial advisers and attorneys working with clients who want to make bequests, the Community Foundation for the Alleghenies has established funds in those four areas.
“These funds are specifically designed to focus on various areas of interest so that donors, especially those who might want to establish legacies through their will or estate, may know their interests will be permanently honored,” CFA President Mike Kane said.
Kane made the announcement Thursday at the Frank J. Pasquerilla Conference Center in downtown Johnstown, where about 200 people gathered for the CFA’s 34th annual Founders’ Day dinner and community report.
The CFA’s four new field of interest funds, which the CFA is calling “Pathfinder funds” have been established with $600,000 in board-designated allocations from the foundation’s unrestricted assets.
In 1990, when the foundation started, its board worked to generate $100,000; in 2024, the CFA distributed nearly $24 million in grants to 602 nonprofit organizations in Cambria, Somerset, Bedford and Indiana counties through the management of 994 endowment funds.
A couple of the CFA’s founding board members, including Dick Mayer, were present for the Founder’s Day event with current CFA board members, donors, fund holders and leaders of local nonprofits.
“It’s amazing,” Mayer said.
“We started out so small. To be where we are today is just amazing.”
Citing a study from the Center for Rural Pennsylvania, Katrina Perkosky, CFA director of donor services, said there are many people planning to transfer their wealth within the four-county region.
“The Center for Rural Pennsylvania revealed that from now until 2033, approximately $5.3 billion will transfer right here in the four-county CFA coverage area,” she said. “If just 5% of that money could stay in our region to support charity through an endowed fund at the Community Foundation, there would be an annual distribution of nearly $12 million every year, forever.”
CFA donor Bob Portante, a 30-year U.S. military veteran from Windber, said the foundation handles transactions efficiently and effectively, distributing money from endowment funds such as his to those on the receiving end.
“Their mission and focus is on us all,” Portante said.
“They work so hard to support individuals like you and me and the people and organizations whose passions we represent.”
