Camp Reinvents Itself for Pandemic Times


Boy standing outside holding a fish he caught

Once they heard that New York State would allow overnight summer camping in 2021, staff at 4-H Camp Shankitunk in Delhi started thinking about Swiss cheese. The cheese was a metaphor for steps the camp would take to protect campers and staff from COVID-19, said Corrine Tompkins, 4-H camp director at Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE) Read more

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion


Looking inward and outward in 2020, the Community Foundation expanded its work to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), both in our practices and in the region we serve.  Those efforts build on work we started more than two years ago, when we conducted a preliminary assessment of our Board and staff and updated language Read more

Help Her Run


In 2020, women held 26 percent of the seats in the U.S. Senate and 23.2 percent of seats in the House. Across the nation, 29.3 percent of state legislators were women, according to the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University.  Those numbers are better than they used to be. (In 1981, just 12.1 percent Read more

Restart the Arts


While other nonprofits struggled to provide essential services during the pandemic, many arts organizations—theaters, museums, orchestras, dance schools, galleries, and more—simply had to close. That shutdown spurred a financial emergency.  In Broome County, for example, arts organizations lost about $1 million in revenues and missed fundraising opportunities, said Nancy Barno Reynolds, executive director of the Read more

To the Rescue


Grant helps rural ambulance service attract more first responders with advanced skills. With a staff of just 18, the Hancock Ambulance Service stands ready to save lives every day, around the clock, across 164 square miles of Delaware County plus a sliver of Pennsylvania. This extremely rural region is many miles from the nearest trauma Read more

Emergency Animal Care Response Fund


Couple at home with their pet dog sitting on their laps

The Emergency Animal Care Response Fund was created by concerned animal welfare organizations in 2020 in response to the COVID-19 crisis. It was clear at the time that animal companions would be affected by the disruption caused by the pandemic, and emergency funding would be needed to support the shelters and foster families that would be caring for them immediately and under similar emergency circumstances in the future.

Paul G. and Miriam B. Mattern Fund


The Paul G. and Miriam B. Mattern Fund supports projects that enrich the cultural life and/or the social well-being in its broadest sense, of the residents of the village and township of Walton, New York and welcomes proposals from non-profit organizations.

Young Professionals Advisory Committee Fund


Started in 2019 by an initial gift of $1,500 and further funded by an investment of $15,000 from the board of the Community Foundation, the Young Professionals Advisory Committee Fund will award grants for projects, programs, and organizations that support, develop and/or expand the skill set of young professionals in our region and/or increase their involvement in the community.