Eastern West Virginia Community Foundation

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EASTERN PANHANDLE SCHOOLS RECEIVE $85,000 IN GRANTS FROM EWVCF

This fall, the Eastern West Virginia Community Foundation (EWVCF) awarded nearly $85,000 to Berkeley, Jefferson, and Morgan County schools through their Education and Mini Grants for Teachers program.

129 grants were awarded to educators at forty-seven schools across the Eastern Panhandle. 94 Mini Grants totaling nearly $35,000 were given to individual teachers, and 35 Education grants totaling just under $50,000 helped fund collaborative efforts and major school projects.

In Morgan County, over $10,000 went towards projects like Morgan Golden’s Biography Bottles, wherein second and fourth graders at Pleasant View Elementary School will pair up, read a biography about a particular person, and then create a biography bottle model of their subject together. Grants also helped fund Alex Arthur’s LEGO Club at Paw Paw Schools and more up-to-date nonfiction books for Donna Meyer’s Pleasant View classroom library.

At Berkeley Springs High School, Meghan Powell and Stark Harbour received funding to take their sophomore students on a field trip to DC to visit the Holocaust Memorial Museum and WWII memorials after finishing their reading unit on the same subjects. Morgan County Schools’ Director of Child Nutrition Angela Beddow and Summer Goller received a grant to purchase vegetable processing equipment for the county’s Farm to School program.

At Morgan County Schools, Director of Child Nutrition Angela Beddow and Summer Goller received an Education grant to boost the county’s Farm to School program with new vegetable processing equipment. Pictured above (L-R) are Warm Springs Intermediate School Principal Rebecca Huber, Morgan County Commissioner Bill Clark, Angela Beddow, and Morgan County Association for Food and Farms former President Garrett Oursler in WSIS’s high tunnel.

Across Jefferson County, educators received nearly $15,000 for programs like Angela Wyatt’s “Summer Camp: A Musical Caper About Finding a Place to Belong.” Wyatt, the music teacher at Driswood Elementary School, will use her grant for costumes, props, and set pieces for the end-of-year fully-staged musical theatre production put on by the school’s 5th graders. Grants also helped purchase ukuleles and other “hands on” instruments for Bonnie Pullen’s music classroom at Ranson Elementary School, and planters to be maintained by Francine DeRonda and Michelle LaFollette’s Special Education Science classes at Harpers Ferry Middle School.

At Washington High School, Katlin Grantham and Doug Lance received funding to continue the school’s FFA Community Meals program. Six times a year, Washington High School FFA students shop for ingredients, prepare meals, and then distribute those meals to approximately 60 community members.

At Washington High School, FFA Advisor Katlin Grantham and Doug Lance received an Education grant to continue the school’s FFA Community Meals program. Pictured above, FFA member Khloe Fisher shops at Martin’s for ingredients that she and fellow FFA students will use to prepare meals that they will then distribute to approximately 60 community members.

Berkeley County educators received just under $60,000 for projects like Bree Wert’s Social Skill Staff Snack Cart at Berkeley Heights Elementary School. Every Friday, students in Wert’s Autism class take a snack cart around the building to staff members, which allows them to practice a variety of communication and math skills. This grant will allow Wert to purchase a sturdier cart that will be easier for students to push, and will last for years to come.

At Potomack Intermediate School, all 877 students will have the opportunity to participate in Kimberly Nelson and Heather Blackburn’s LEGOtastic Derby STEM project, wherein students will collaborate to design LEGO cars to be raced on a timed track. Diane Blake, Brandy McFarland, and Faith Mann received funding to paint murals in Mill Creek Intermediate School’s cafeteria. They will be painting scenes to represent West Virginia’s beautiful mountains, gardens, and apple orchards throughout the seasons. At James Rumsey Technical Institute, Rachael Propst’s Forensic Science students and Doug Shaw’s Law and Public Safety students will gain real world forensic experience while solving a fictitious crime with MiniLab kits that include an electrophoresis unit.

At James Rumsey Technical Institute, Rachael Propst and Doug Shaw received an Education grant for MiniLab Kits for their Forensic Science and Law and Public Safety classes, respectively. Pictured above (L-R) are Law and Public Safety students Jacob Kelsey, Koen Heffner, Dani Welch, Alex Arsenal, Kamrie-lyn Alder, Neveah Nesmith, and Rachel Hunter (seated).

The Eastern West Virginia Community Foundation (EWVCF) was established in 1995 to help donors create permanent endowments to provide grants and scholarships throughout the region. Since its inception, EWVCF has awarded $15 million, including over $1 million in 2022 alone. The Community Foundation now holds more than 290 endowed funds with assets of just over $38 million and is the leading steward of philanthropic giving in the region. EWVCF works with a wide range of nonprofit organizations, providing funding for projects from human welfare and scholarships to affordable housing and natural resources conservation; youth and education, animal welfare and historic preservation, and much more. For information visit www.EWVCF.org or call 304-264-0353.

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Community Foundation Joins in Annual, Nationwide Celebration

The Eastern West Virginia Community Foundation (EWVCF) joined in a nationwide celebration to recognize the increasingly important role that community foundations play in strengthening the regions they serve while addressing social issues like homelessness, polarization, and discrimination.

The Eastern West Virginia Community Foundation staff retreat was held at Cacapon State Park in late summer. The five-member team has worked hard making the Foundation the leading grantmaker in the Eastern Panhandle. (L to R) Administrative Assistant/Office and Grants Manager Rebecca Knight, Scholarship and Education Program Manager Karin Hammann Dunn, Executive Director Michael Whalton, Director of Affiliates Amy Pancake, and Associate Director/COO Susan Caperton ventured up to the scenic overlook of the beautiful park in Morgan County.

To celebrate Community Foundation Week (November 12-18), we encouraged readers to visit our Facebook page and comment about a favorite local charity. Dozens of Facebook followers responded and To the ResQ, an all-volunteer animal rescue organization that was founded in 2022 received a $500 grant from the Foundation’s Executive Director Fund. Headquartered in Harpers Ferry, To the ResQ received the most recommendations of all nonprofits serving Berkeley, Jefferson, and Morgan Counties.

Our affiliates awarded $250 grants to Light Up Capon Bridge in Hampshire County and Potomac Highlands Animal Rescue in Hardy County.

We are grateful for the amazing support we’ve received from professional advisors, individual donors, families, businesses, and private foundations that have helped us grow. So many charities are doing great work in our communities and this contest helped us reach even more nonprofit organizations.

Since being established in 1995, the Eastern West Virginia Community Foundation has awarded more than $15 million dollars in grants and scholarships. In 2023 alone, nearly $1.3 million dollars will have been granted to support nonprofit organizations and students from Berkeley, Hampshire, Hardy, Jefferson, and Morgan Counties.

Community foundations are independent, public charitable organizations that steward philanthropic resources from donors to local nonprofits and represent one of the fastest-growing forms of philanthropy. We have the reach, expertise, and relationships to address some of the most pressing issues impacting individuals and families nationwide. The 290 endowed funds established by our donors at the Eastern West Virginia Community Foundation help us support more than 100 nonprofit organizations in the region.

As community foundations find solutions for communities large and small, urban and rural – it is the collective work of these organizations that will have the most profound impact. Community Foundation Week was created in 1989 by former president George H.W. Bush to recognize the work of community foundations throughout America and our collaborative approach to working with the public, private, and nonprofit sectors to address community problems.

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EASTERN PANHANDLE SCHOOLS AND NONPROFITS RECEIVE $150,000 IN ARTS, MUSIC, DESIGN, AND NATURE GRANTS

MARTINSBURG – This summer, the Eastern West Virginia Community Foundation (EWVCF) once again awarded $150,000 in grants to local nonprofits and schools from the Detlev and Mary Ellen Preissler Fund for the Arts, Music, Design, and Nature. Thirty-two organizations received grants ranging from $1,000 to $10,000 to boost their programs enriching the lives of young ones in our area through the arts and nature.

EWVCF staff shared their excitement about hosting this program for a second year in a row. “We are so pleased to have this grant program focused on the arts and nature.  Many nonprofit and educational programs in this area are working to rebuild after the challenges faced during the pandemic.  Thanks to the generosity of May Ellen and Detlev Preissler, 32 organizations and educators received a much-needed boost of support!” said Associate Director/Chief Operations Officer Susan Caperton.

Grants were awarded to 16 nonprofits and 16 schools across Berkeley, Jefferson, and Morgan County. Just over $90,000 in grants were awarded to area nonprofits, including the Apollo Civic Theatre, Appalachian Chamber Music CO, Black Box Youth Playhouse, BlackCat Music Cooperative, Charles Washington Symphony Orchestra, Children’s Tree House, Contemporary American Theatre Festival, Faith Christian Academy, Firehouse Gallery, Friends of Music, the Martinsburg Initiative, Morgan Arts Council, Morgan County Public Library, Norborne Preschool and Daycare Center, Ranson Community Gardens, and Wind Dance Farm and Earth and Education Center.

Children’s Tree House Child Development Center, Inc., a Shepherdstown-based childcare center, received a grant to help fund their Camp Pavilion project. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the organization has been unable to host their summer camps for school-aged children. With a permanent outdoor pavilion, Children’s Tree House will once again be able to offer their WOW (Wild Outdoor Wonders) camps. “We provide all campers with hands-on STEAM environmental experiences to kindle their interest, enhance their knowledge, life skills, gardening and help them enjoy the benefits of nature-based education,” wrote Director Nicole Haines.

Children’s Tree House Child Development Center will use their EWVCF Preissler grant to help fund a permanent outdoor facility that will allow them to once again host their WOW Summer Camps.

Nearly $60,000 in grants were awarded to local schools. Sixteen educators at Berkeley Springs High School, Charles Town Middle School, Harpers Ferry Middle School, Hedgesville High School, Hedgesville Middle School, Martinsburg High School, Mountain Ridge Middle School, Rosemont Elementary School, Spring Mills Middle School, Spring Mills Primary School, Valley View Elementary School, and Warm Springs Intermediate School received funding for their arts and nature programs. These grants will go towards the purchase of so many instruments, classroom butterfly kits, art supplies, and even a traditional Chinese lion dance and kung fu/tai chi presentation from Jow Ga Shaolin Institute.

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Retirement strategies: Tax benefits and beyond


At the community foundation, we regularly talk with retirement-age donors and fund holders about the tax benefits of Qualified Charitable Distributions and leaving bequests of IRAs to a donor-advised fund at the community foundation. But getting involved in philanthropy can be so much more than that for retirees and people who are gearing up (or down!) for retirement. This is particularly relevant as some retirees consider returning to work and contemplate what that means for their charitable giving and volunteering plans.

You’ve likely heard the statistic that 10,000 people in the United States are turning 65 every day. And while 65 may be the “traditional” retirement age in this country, the milestone appears to be anything but traditional nowadays. While Covid-19 did not impact retirement ages as much as some might have predicted, many of those who did retire actually now regret it. While many retirees are seeking work for financial reasons, two of the top six reasons to go back to work involve boredom or loneliness.

For people who’ve reached a theoretical retirement age, working or returning to work provides many opportunities that tie into philanthropy. For example:

–You can still contribute to your IRAs (which many people do not realize), and if there’s an employer-sponsored 401(k) plan, all the better.

–You can use your extra income to fund your donor-advised fund at the community foundation, making you eligible for an income tax deduction as well as removing assets from your taxable estate.

–As you take advantage of the opportunity to get more involved with causes you care about in your free time (which has perhaps increased because children have grown), you can update your estate plan to leave additional bequests to your donor-advised fund at the community foundation to support your favorite causes after you’re gone.

–And of course, if you are 70 ½ or older, you can take advantage of the Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD) which allows you to direct up to $100,000 annually from your IRA to a qualified charity, and even more in future years as the $100,000 cap is indexed for inflation. Plus, if you’ve reached the age when you are required to take distributions from your IRAs, QCDs will offset those Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs).

For those who’ve retired for good, remember that many of the organizations you care about could likely use your help not only financially as a donor, but also as a volunteer, board member, or community advocate.

Please reach out to the team at the community foundation. We’d love to work with you on your charitable giving plans for retirement, un-retirement, or re-retirement, as the case may be! Your seasoned professional skills and civic commitment are truly valuable to improve the quality of life in our community.

Martinsburg Office
127 Crimson Circle
Martinsburg, WV 25403
[email protected]
304.264.0353

Romney Office
Post Office Box 40
91 South High Street
Romney, WV 26757
[email protected]
304.822.7200

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Vision

To build vibrant communities that provide opportunities for everyone living in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia.

Mission

To inspire philanthropy, serve donors, strengthen communities, and improve the quality of life in Eastern West Virginia now and for future generations.

Values

We honor the philanthropic vision of our donors and value their generosity. We respect the work of nonprofit organizations and the passion they bring to carrying out their missions. We earn the trust of our grantees, donors, and partners through our commitment to excellence in our stewardship and our dedication to accountability, integrity, professionalism, and transparency in all our actions. In all our work, we actively embrace accessibility, inclusion, racial and social equity, and the unity that comes from diversity.