Berks County Community Foundation is a public benefit organization located in

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

. The Foundation's mission is to promote

philanthropy Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...

and improve the quality of life for the residents of

Berks County, Pennsylvania Berks County (Pennsylvania Dutch language, Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Barricks Kaundi'') is a County (United States), county in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the coun ...

Berks County Community Foundation is a member of the

Council on Foundations A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or nati ...

History

The foundation was started in 1994 with grants from the

Wyomissing Foundation Wyomissing Foundation is a private 501(c)(3) 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 Wyo ...

, a local private foundation. Like other community foundations, it works with people, businesses and organizations to set up charitable funds that make

grants Grant or Grants may refer to: People * Grant (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Grant (surname), including a list of people and fictional characters ** Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885), the 18th president of the U ...

to causes they care about. It manages hundreds of charitable funds, Some people create funds while they are alive, others in their will. The foundation's articles of incorporation were filed June 7, 1994. The Wyomissing Foundation gave the fledgling Community Foundation $1 million in initial operating funds. The United Way of Berks County housed the Community Foundation for more than two years until the Community Foundation could afford its own space. Kevin Murphy was hired as the Foundation's first employee in 1994 and has remained president ever since. In 2015, a $100,000 grant from the Community Foundation's Hawley and Myrtle Quier Fund to the Reading Downtown Improvement District started the free Downtown Alive outdoor concert series . n. In 2021, Berks County Community Foundation received a gift of $25 million to establish the Berks Nature Endowment Fund. It is the largest designated fund administered by Berks County Community Foundation.

References

External links

Berks County Community Foundation
Official site. {{Authority control Berks County, Pennsylvania 1994 establishments in Pennsylvania Community foundations based in the United States Reading, Pennsylvania Non-profit organizations based in Pennsylvania