Berks County Community Foundation
Encyclopedia
Berks County Community Foundation is a public benefit organization located in Reading
Reading, Pennsylvania
Reading is a city in southeastern Pennsylvania, USA, and seat of Berks County. Reading is the principal city of the Greater Reading Area and had a population of 88,082 as of the 2010 census, making it the fifth most populated city in the state after Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown and Erie,...

, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

, United States. The Foundation's mission is to promote philanthropy
Philanthropy
Philanthropy etymologically means "the love of humanity"—love in the sense of caring for, nourishing, developing, or enhancing; humanity in the sense of "what it is to be human," or "human potential." In modern practical terms, it is "private initiatives for public good, focusing on quality of...

 and improve the quality of life for the residents of Berks County, Pennsylvania
Berks County, Pennsylvania
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 373,638 people, 141,570 households, and 98,532 families residing in the county. The population density was 435 people per square mile . There were 150,222 housing units at an average density of 175 per square mile...

.

Berks County Community Foundation is a member of the Council on Foundations
Council on Foundations
The Council on Foundations, formed in 1949, is a nonprofit membership association of grantmaking foundations and corporations. Members of the Council include more than 1,750 independent, operating, community, public, and company-sponsored foundations, and corporate giving programs in the United...

. The Community Foundation's President, Kevin K. Murphy, is vice-chair of the Council's Board of Directors.

In 1999, the foundation donated several defibrillators to area police departments.

Beatrice M. Shaffer, a resident of Reading, donor left money in her will to create a fund managed by the foundation to help Jewish programs and Jewish people in need of assistance. She died in 2006, and the creation of the fund was announced by the foundation in 2007.

In 2009, Berks County Community Foundation received its largest gift ever, a bequest from Myrtle Quier, the former chairman emeritus of the Reading Eagle
Reading Eagle
The Reading Eagle is the major daily newspaper in Reading, Pennsylvania, in the United States. This family-owned newspaper has a daily circulation of 64,000 and a Sunday circulation of 100,000...

 newspaper. Her gift may have included a controlling share in the Reading Eagle Company.

The Community Foundation, which was founded in 1994 with grants from the Wyomissing Foundation
Wyomissing Foundation
Wyomissing Foundation is a private foundation in Wyomissing, Pennsylvania, United States. It was established in 1928 by three local businesspeople who had founded hosiery manufacturing company Berkshire Knitting Mills, later known as Wyomissing Industries. Grants from the foundation helped...

, a local private foundation, lets people set up charitable funds that make grants
Grant (money)
Grants are funds disbursed by one party , often a Government Department, Corporation, Foundation or Trust, to a recipient, often a nonprofit entity, educational institution, business or an individual. In order to receive a grant, some form of "Grant Writing" often referred to as either a proposal...

 to causes they care about. For example, someone who makes a donation to a humane society
Humane Society
A humane society may be a group that aims to stop human or animal suffering due to cruelty or other reasons, although in many countries, it is now used mostly for societies for the prevention of cruelty to animals...

every year might want to continue to make that donation every year even after they pass away. By setting up a fund at the Community Foundation, that person can be assured that a grant will go to the humane society in his or her name every year.

The Community Foundation manages hundreds of charitable funds, each created to support a cause the donor cared about. Some people create funds while they are alive so they can see the benefits of the grants they make. Others set up a fund in their will by leaving a certain amount of money or a portion of their estate to the Community Foundation and stipulating what it should be used for. Creating a fund at the Community Foundation through one's will allows donors to put money that would otherwise be used for taxes to use in the community.
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