News from the Noteworthy

Community Foundation
Reaches Granting Milestone

In three short years, $500,000.00 in grants and awards from the Community Foundation of Otsego County have gone to Otsego County nonprofits. This major milestone was marked by a $15,000.00 award to Catholic Charities of Delaware, Otsego and Schoharie Counties for the Oneonta Warming Station. The Community Foundation of Otsego County was founded in 2019 by a group of 15 local citizens who share a vision and believe in the potential of a community foundation. CFOC is dedicated to enriching opportunities for all residents of Otsego County.

While in the midst of the initial $2 million Founders fundraising campaign, COVID struck. CFOC rose to the immediate challenge, gathering and distributing more than $200,000.00 to county nonprofits and businesses hit with unexpected and unbudgeted costs related to the pandemic.

The COVID crisis hurt but had a silver lining. It proved our community could quickly come together to provide needed financial support through our nonprofits. It also demonstrated CFOC to be an effective central organizing hub for rising to these challenges.

It can often take decades for new community foundations to raise enough to be able to give out $500,000.00. During the COVID pandemic, the generosity of people in and outside of Otsego County allowed CFOC to speed up the timeline. After the COVID funds were fully spent, the Founders campaign resumed; it was fulfilled in late 2021, and that put CFOC in the position to start its 2021-22 Awards Cycle. To date, 143 awards and grants have been issued, ranging from $300.00 to $25,000.00, for a total of over $500,000.00.

We are immensely proud of the Community Foundation’s work, the dedication of our board and the response of our donors. To make such a large financial impact in such a brief amount of time is phenomenal.

As we begin 2023, our new Awards Cycle will open in early March. With this, the Community Foundation of Otsego County continues its commitment to area nonprofits—which do tremendous work for the betterment of us all.

For more information on what we do and how you can support the CFOC, visit cfotsego.org.

Jeff Katz is the Executive Director of the Community Foundation of Otsego County.