Welcome, Derek! Learn about other board members...Click HERE

Community engagement includes working with our mission-aligned agencies to build greater relationships and develop solutions to complex community issues. It promotes, through intentional interactions, we can work collaboratively to create – and realize – sustainable visions for our community’s future. Site visits allow connecting with the people who are doing great work and to recognize and acknowledge their needs and successes. Site visits should educate and engage not report and repeat, see our site visit guidelines HERE.

The warehouse was bubbling with volunteers working on their 'Kitchen Stork' program, one of their many community programs that serve Tompkins and neighboring 4 counties. While on my tour, I stumbled upon the 'Backpack program' storage area; a program I am familiar with as my son was a participant. I asked about the stigma associated with food insecurity in schools and I learned about how the Food Bank's School Food Center Program is challenging the stigma. FBST has an unwavering commitment and dedication to feeding our communities through the staff and volunteers. I was hosted by Meghan Parsons, Development Officer, and Nancy Webster, Grants Manager, who took great care of me. Meghan had THIS to share with our donors. The Community Foundation remains committed to help build a community where hunger is no longer.

Our next site visit is with Saoirse Pastures on June 22. To RSVP for future site visits, click HERE

"After a 2+ year closure of Cayuga Nature Center, we reopened the lodge in May 2022 to visitors to experience our indoor exhibits. The lodge saw about 5,000 visitors between May 2022-November 2022, while this is lower than pre-pandemic number, over all it was an increase as the hours that the lodge is open is greatly reduced from pre-pandemic time (7 days/ week to 3 days a week). Reopening the lodge also allowed us to increase our program offerings (see picture below of indoor animal feedings)."

-Amanda Schmitt Piha, Cayuga Nature Center

Cayuga Nature Center/Paleontological Research Institution is just one of the many organizations affected by the pandemic and in need of support to reorganize, restructure, and reopen.

On June 16, join us along with Southside Community Center, Tompkins County Office of Human Rights, City of Ithaca, New York State, Business Leaders of Colors in a community event like no other!

CLICK Ithaca Voice FOR DETAILS

Michaela Friend attends Cornell's Brooks School of Public Policy as an MPA Fellow-Social Policy, graduating in 2024. She holds a BA in African American Studies, BA Political Science-Civil Rights concentration with a minor in Gender, Sexuality, & Women’s Studies from Virginia Commonwealth University. She is passionate about social action and involved in advocacy and community programs on and off campus.

Her dedication and impact earned her the 2020 Outstanding Student in American Politics Award. She plans to pursue a law degree as her interest lies at the intersection of policy and law, with a focus on reproductive justice and child welfare.

Her expertise, skills, passion, and experience will further our mission to build a more equitable Tompkins County. Potential projects include a project with the Human Rights Commission, furthering our grantee organizational assessment work, continuing our DEIJ assessment and board recruitment process, community engagement analysis, and more. Welcome, Michaela at mnfriend@cftompkins.org.

So, who reviewed spring grant applications? Your employees, your colleagues, your neighbors, and your peers through an extensive and comprehensive grant review process. See a complete list of team members HERE. We’ve enable our community to participate in the planning and decision-making process of each grant cycle, and we are proud of this. This spring, 39 people representing a diverse cross section of our community, brought a range of skills, experience, and expertise to our grant process. We intentionally reach out to be sure to represent the community we serve, the community we love.

Each review team member has a unique opportunity to deepen their understanding of community needs through reading and scoring grant applications. They are trained and guided through equitable and fair ways to review and score applications using a scoring rubric. Our teams get to connect and engage with applicants and with each other. Cycle after cycle, we are amazed by the dedication and passion of our review team members and the rich discussions that come out of the meetings.

Yasmin Rashid, VP at Unbroken Promise Initiative, had this to say, "It has been exponentially joyful working next to Gloria. I have very few opportunities to work with those in the nonprofit realm with such READ MORE...

New to the Spring Grant Cycle - as an opportunity to engage with you - we have incorporated one-on-one sessions with Gloria. These sessions are for applicants to discuss their grant requests, ask clarifying questions, get feedback on their application, etc. We are happy to report that 100% of those who applied during the spring grant cycle received funding, 70% of those who applied were fully funded. These sessions are a useful tool for either first-time applicants or orgs who need extra support. For example...

In Fall of 2022, the Free Science Workshop did not receive any funding and sought out advice. Lori Tenenbaum, Executive Director, met with us for a collaboration session and after the session, decided to be a Grant Review Team member.

Lori had this to say, “Free Science, Inc. is so grateful for the opportunity to apply for trust-based funding from the Community Foundation of Tompkins County. As a small organization with limited resources, having financial flexibility from your grant funds allowed us to respond to community needs and maximize our impact. CFTC makes the entire grant process smooth with frequent communication and updates, as well as opportunities to offer feedback along the way. Staff is an incredible resource, available for emails, calls, and meetings. And wow, to be a part of a Grant Review Team gave me the chance to learn more about other non-profits in our community and the incredible work they do was inspiring, and I look forward to staying involved with Community Foundation in the future.”

Want to meet with us for your funding needs? Schedule a meeting HERE, select ‘Consultation/Community Collaboration Session’. Our Fall Grant Cycle opens in September.