The Pickaway County Community Foundation’s mission is to enhance Pickaway County through philanthropy. Founded in 2001, The Pickaway County Community Foundation (PCCF) administers a charitable endowment consisting of approximately 82 separately identified funds serving Pickaway County. PCCF was created as a vehicle through which individuals, families, businesses and nonprofit organizations can easily make charitable donations, current and deferred, to benefit Pickaway County. The fund currently has funds totaling over $10.5 million dollars in assets.
The current year has been a year of significant change for PCCF. In addition to having Jan Shannon as Executive Director, the Board had a retreat in February and decided to focus on three key areas: communication, grant making and sustainability and growth. As a result of this retreat, the Board subsequently adopted a communication plan that has been providing fund holders and donors with updates throughout the year. The Board also adopted new grant making criteria which is outlined on the PCCF website, www.yourpccf.org. Non-profits are encouraged to review the areas of focus and apply for grants to enhance their missions, subsequently enhancing Pickaway County. The final area of focus is being kicked off and that is a sustainability and advocacy program. This program will ensure that PCCF will have the capability to maintain staff and grow to provide additional services to address the current and future needs of the Pickaway County area.
During the past year, the Pickaway County Community Foundation funds have issued a number of grants and provided scholarships to local students. To date through the third quarter of 2017, PCCF has issued scholarships and grants totaling $330,469 back into the community. This makes the total that has been circulated back into Pickaway County by PCCF since it was created in 2001 over 3.7 million dollars.
In addition to supporting the community through financial contributions and scholarships PCCF has become a center for philanthropy and was the spearhead in Pickaway County behind the Big Give for the local non-profits. During the 26-hour giving event sponsored by the Columbus Foundation, which PCCF is affiliated with, over 216 donations were received to 16 differentPickaway County non-profits. The amount given back to Pickaway County non-profits during the Big Give totaled $274,870, before the Columbus Foundation added funds provided from their additional funding pool.
Giving Tuesday refers to the Tuesday after Thanksgiving in the United States. It is a movement to create an international day of giving at the beginning of the Christmas and holiday season. The PCCF Board voted last week to participate in Giving Tuesday by recognizing a number of non-profits in Pickaway County and donating to them to enhance their missions during the holiday season. Non-profits receiving grants from PCCF to enhance the holiday season included: Job and Family Services for their Foster Care Holiday Party, A New Leaf for their Foster Care Party, Pickaway County Community Action (PICCA) for Toys for Tots, PICCA for H.U.G providing food to the local food pantries, Haven House for their holiday giving for residents and their families, the FANS network through MRDD, the Williamsport United Methodist Church for their coat and food pantry, and the South Bloomfield United Methodist Church for the TeaysValley Weekend Pack Ministry. In addition to the PCCF Board issuing grants a number of other funds and organizations are issuing grants today, in honor of Giving Tuesday, to promote the spirit of giving in Pickaway County.
