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Legacy Fund Supports Programs That Benefit the Greater Potsdam Area

February 22, 2021 By admin

VanNess Family Fund Assists Efforts Focused on Arts, Culture, and Youth

     POTSDAM — John and Dorotha VanNess cared deeply for the Potsdam area. A legacy fund honoring their commitment to the community lives on with a trio of new grant awards impacting the area this year.

    The John and Dorotha VanNess Family Fund of the Northern New York Community Foundation recently approved $10,000 in grant support for three nonprofit organizations that deliver arts, culture, and youth-based programs. The family legacy fund is a permanent, grantmaking fund that will forever support programs, activities, and initiatives that support the general welfare of the Potsdam community. Mr. and Mrs. VanNess’s daughter, Susan J. Sewall, established the fund at the Community Foundation in 2018 as a lasting tribute to her parents’ civic mindedness.

    “The example of what Mrs. Sewall created to honor her parents, while also make a lasting difference in a community they loved together, is inspiring and lasting,” said Max DelSignore, Community Foundation assistant director. “It is a meaningful way to ensure the Potsdam area is supported forever. These three grants are an excellent reflection of enriching the quality of life in a community.”

    This year’s grant recipients are:

  •     St. Lawrence County Arts Council — $5,000 to support the organization’s North Country Arts Festival, which is designed to bring multidisciplinary arts experiences to the county. Many events are planned to take place in the Potsdam area as a hub for the festival.
  •     North Country Children’s Museum — $3,000 for an annual, multicultural program series for children and families. Funding will purchase supplies and materials for a dozen, one-hour programs and workshops, as well as professional training for museum staff.
  •     Boy Scouts of America, Longhouse Council — $2,000 will help establish one Cub Scout and one Scouts BSA unit in the Potsdam area. This award will serve as scholarship support to build enrollment and participation in the program, secure volunteers and purchase necessary materials.

    Mrs. Sewall established this family fund as part of her charitable legacy plans. Following Mrs. Sewall’s sudden passing in 2017, the VanNess Family Fund was created to recognize the family’s long-standing commitment to the betterment of the greater Potsdam area. She believed that strong, healthy, quality-of-life enhanced communities help provide the backdrop from which many other aspects of community vibrancy and development can occur.

    Nonprofits serving the Potsdam area are encouraged to review grant application requirements for the VanNess Family Fund of the Community Foundation. Focus areas include, but are not limited to: Health and wellness, arts and culture, economic development, education, recreational programs, community revitalization and beautification, strategic planning and research, other quality-of-life projects, and opportunities.

    Applications for 2021 grant funding from the VanNess Family Fund will be made available later this summer with an Oct. 22 proposal deadline. Contact Kraig Everard, director of stewardship and programs, 315-782-7110, or kraig@nnycf.org, to learn more.

About John and Dorotha VanNess

John S. and Dorotha (Ticknor) VanNess

    John S. VanNess was active in Potsdam government and served as village mayor from 1955 to 1961. He also held leadership positions with the Potsdam Chamber of Commerce, Potsdam Rotary Club and was a trustee at Paul Smith’s College. Dorotha (Ticknor) VanNess began teaching at Potsdam High School in 1939 and later joined her husband in the management of Sunshine Stores. She served as president of the Canton-Potsdam Hospital Guild and was an active member of Potsdam United Methodist Church.

About the Northern New York Community Foundation

     Since 1929, the Northern New York Community Foundation has invested in improving and enriching the quality of life for all in communities across Jefferson, Lewis, and St. Lawrence counties.

     Through partnerships with businesses and organizations, charitable foundations, and generous families and individual donors, the Community Foundation awards grants and scholarships from an endowment and collection of funds that benefit the region. Its commitment to donors helps individuals achieve their charitable objectives now and for generations to come by preserving and honoring legacies of community philanthropy while inspiring others.

     The Community Foundation is a resource for local charitable organizations, donors, professional advisors, and nonprofit organizations. It also works to bring people together at its permanent home in the Northern New York Philanthropy Center to discuss challenges our communities face and find creative solutions that strengthen the region and make it a great place to live, work, and play.

Filed Under: Recent News

Northern New York Community Foundation

131 Washington Street
Watertown, NY 13601

Phone: 315-782-7110
Fax: 315-782-0047

info@nnycf.org

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Northern New York Community Foundation

Northern New York Community Foundation

3,258

Working with donors to benefit the community through grants and scholarships since 1929.

DEADLINE FAST APPROACHING: Apply by this Friday, Feb. 10!

This is a great opportunity to join a terrific team and make a lasting difference in your community!

Complete details: www.nnycf.org/about/employment

#NNYCF #Team #Hiring #Community

DEADLINE FAST APPROACHING: Apply by this Friday, Feb. 10!

This is a great opportunity to join a terrific team and make a lasting difference in your community!

Complete details: www.nnycf.org/about/employment

#NNYCF #team #hiring #community
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Meet Cullen Miller, an eighth grader at Lowville Academy and Central School.

For Cullen, community is “a place where people motivate and support each other to make better decisions.”

“What I love about my community is all the people. Good people make a good community. It’s a great place to live because the community is grateful, respectful, and helpful to each other,” Cullen wrote in his winning essay. 

As a Northern New York Community Foundation Community Spirit Youth Giving Challenge winner, Cullen had a chance to present a grant to the Lewis County Agricultural Society, an organization he chose for its work to build community. 

“The Agricultural Society brings people together to show their love for the community and animals,” Cullen wrote. 

Cullen met with Lewis County Fair Manager Rachel Lisk last fall and presented a $500 Youth Giving Challenge grant that will help the Agricultural Society continue its work and mission. The grant is supported by donors to the Friends of the Foundation Annual Community Betterment Fund, a partnership with Community Bank, N.A., and a leadership gift from an anonymous donor. 

Pictured, from left, Fair Manager Rachel Lisk; Lowville Academy and Central Schools Middle School student and Youth Giving Challenge winner Cullen Miller; and Community Bank Lowville Branch Manager and Vice President Tammie Lambert.

Cullen is one of dozens of thoughtful youths who looked inside his community to recognize an organization that works to improve quality of life in the region. The 2021-2022 Giving Challenge asked students from Jefferson, Lewis, and St. Lawrence counties to explain in an essay what community means to them and to choose a nonprofit that embodies their definition of community. Cullen’s essay is one of 20 chosen from 193 submissions.

Look for more photos and stories behind the Community Spirit Youth Giving Challenge in the coming weeks.

#NNYCF #ThoughtfulGiving #YouthGivingChallenge #CommunitySpirit

Meet Cullen Miller, an eighth grader at Lowville Academy and Central School.

For Cullen, community is “a place where people motivate and support each other to make better decisions.”

“What I love about my community is all the people. Good people make a good community. It’s a great place to live because the community is grateful, respectful, and helpful to each other,” Cullen wrote in his winning essay.

As a Northern New York Community Foundation Community Spirit Youth Giving Challenge winner, Cullen had a chance to present a grant to the Lewis County Agricultural Society, an organization he chose for its work to build community.

“The Agricultural Society brings people together to show their love for the community and animals,” Cullen wrote.

Cullen met with Lewis County Fair Manager Rachel Lisk last fall and presented a $500 Youth Giving Challenge grant that will help the Agricultural Society continue its work and mission. The grant is supported by donors to the Friends of the Foundation Annual Community Betterment Fund, a partnership with Community Bank, N.A., and a leadership gift from an anonymous donor.

Pictured, from left, Fair Manager Rachel Lisk; Lowville Academy and Central Schools Middle School student and Youth Giving Challenge winner Cullen Miller; and Community Bank Lowville Branch Manager and Vice President Tammie Lambert.

Cullen is one of dozens of thoughtful youths who looked inside his community to recognize an organization that works to improve quality of life in the region. The 2021-2022 Giving Challenge asked students from Jefferson, Lewis, and St. Lawrence counties to explain in an essay what community means to them and to choose a nonprofit that embodies their definition of community. Cullen’s essay is one of 20 chosen from 193 submissions.

Look for more photos and stories behind the Community Spirit Youth Giving Challenge in the coming weeks.

#NNYCF #ThoughtfulGiving #YouthGivingChallenge #CommunitySpirit
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We are proud to partner with The Orchestra of Northern New York to present “Winter Serenade” this Saturday, Feb. 4, at 7:30 p.m. at St. Marys Church in Canton and Sunday, Feb. 5, at 3 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church in Watertown.

Dont miss this chance to see a wonderful live orchestral music event. The Community Foundation, with the support of its loyal donors, is a major underwriter of the entire ONNY season. Hope to see you there!

#Winterlude #WinterConcert #LiveMusic #ONNY #NNYCF

We are proud to partner with The Orchestra of Northern New York to present “Winter Serenade” this Saturday, Feb. 4, at 7:30 p.m. at St. Mary's Church in Canton and Sunday, Feb. 5, at 3 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church in Watertown.

Don't miss this chance to see a wonderful live orchestral music event. The Community Foundation, with the support of its loyal donors, is a major underwriter of the entire ONNY season. Hope to see you there!

#Winterlude #WinterConcert #LiveMusic #ONNY #NNYCF
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