News

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact our community, the Parkersburg Area Community Foundation and Regional Affiliates (PACF) continues to respond. Thanks to the generous support of area residents, businesses, foundations, and organizations to its COVID-19 Relief efforts, the PACF has awarded another $38,250 in grants over the past two months, bringing total COVID-19 Relief grants to more than $390,000. This is the PACF’s seventh round of COVID-19 Relief grantmaking.

“Many families in our region still face food insecurity as a result of the pandemic, so several of our recent grants are helping organizations provide access to food to those in need,” said Marian Clowes, PACF Associate Director for Community Leadership. “We still have some limited COVID-19 Relief Funds available, particularly to address food access. Organizations impacted by COVID-19 are encouraged to reach out to us to discuss your needs.”

Several of the recent grants were awarded through partnership with the Sisters Health Foundation (noted with an *).  Agencies that received funding during the PACF’s seventh round of grants include:

• Calhoun County Committee on Aging - $7,000 to support the senior nutrition program.*
• Calhoun County Family Resource Network - $5,000 to purchase diapers, baby formula, and cleaning supplies to help individuals and families impacted by COVID-19.*
• Doddridge County Health Department - $3,500 to purchase personal protective equipment.
• Mason Community Action Group - $1,500 to provide emergency food boxes for seniors.
• Memorial Health Foundation - $10,000 to purchase tents for vaccination clinics.*
• No Hunger Food Pantry - $1,000 for food purchases (through support from the SDR and Ritchie Family Charitable Fund).
• Old Man Rivers - $5,000 to support food access programs.*
• O’Neill Senior Center - $2,000 to support the Senior Restaurant Meal Program.*
• Ritchie and Doddridge County Healthy Grandfamilies Program - $3,000 to provide tutoring assistance to children being raised by grandparents to support educational needs and to help navigate virtual learning.
• Wirt County Ministerial Alliance/Hope Shop - $250 to build a storage building to meet increase demand at food pantry.

The PACF is committed to granting 100% of donations received for COVID-19 relief back into the region. Organizations that have needs related to COVID-19 impact can contact the Foundation at info@pacfwv.com or 304-428-4438 to inquire about support.

Donations to support the PACF’s Hunger Fund and Safety Net Fund are tax-deductible and greatly appreciated.  To learn more about these funds and the work that the Foundation is doing to address COVID-19 in our region, visit www.pacfwv.com/COVID19.

When asked what was the most important gift that a person could receive, Clare Bernardine McCusker’s reply was “Education … definitely.”  Bernardine was a dedicated homemaker, wife, mother of five, and grandmother to seven with a great love for crafts of all kinds.  She was well-accomplished in ceramics but also enjoyed needlework, trunk restoration, community plays, and the symphony.  She was a founding member of the St. Monica Parish in Lubeck, West Virginia, and was a member of St. Francis Xavier Parish in downtown Parkersburg.  She was active in her church and her community, the Parent Teacher Association, and volunteered as a tutor for elementary age students.

When she passed away in July of 2020, her husband, children, and grandchildren, carefully considered how to best commemorate her lifelong devotion to caring for others and to art in our community.  They decided to honor her by establishing the Clare Bernardine McCusker Memorial Fund with the Parkersburg Area Community Foundation.  With this memorial fund, Bernardine’s caring legacy will continue forever as her passion for arts and crafts is carried on with support available to the community in her name.

This new charitable fund will forever provide annual support to organizations that pursue the development and education of music, arts, and crafts in the Foundation's service area, causes which were near and dear to Bernardine’s heart.  Organizations may submit requests for funding from this new resource through the Foundation’s Community Action Grants process, which is currently open to applications until Feb. 15, 2021.  It’s envisioned that projects involving ceramic work, needlework arts, etc., may receive funding through Bernardine’s memorial fund.

Individuals who would like to make a tax-deductible donation to support this new fund are encouraged to send a check made payable to the PACF with “Clare Bernardine McCusker Memorial” on the memo line to:  PACF, PO Box 1762, Parkersburg, WV 26102.   Donations may also be made online by visiting www.pacfwv.com/donate.  Individuals wishing to learn more about this fund can call the Foundation at 304.428.4438.

In lieu of its traditional large-scale in-person Annual Meeting, the Parkersburg Area Community Foundation & Regional Affiliates recently held its Annual Meeting virtually on January 15, 2021 which featured a “State of the State” address from its Executive Director, Judy Sjostedt Ritchie. 

Sjostedt Ritchie noted that 2021 marked the 22^nd Annual Meeting that she has had the privilege of conducting.  The PACF’s grantmaking capacity has grown significantly over its history.  In 1964, one year after the PACF’s founding, the Foundation awarded $2,000 in community grants.  By contrast, at the end of its 2020 fiscal year, the PACF awarded $2.9 million in grants and scholarships.

“As a public charity, anything and everything that the PACF can do is directly to the credit of the generous local citizens who support it,” said Sjostedt Ritchie.  “Citizens working together founded this charitable foundation more than 50 years ago and it continues to be a wonderful work in progress.  As each new generation builds on it, it becomes an even more impactful force for good in this community.”

Cynthia Brown, PACF Board Chairman 2019 and 2020, was honored for two years of leading the PACF’s Board of Directors through an era of great service and significant growth.  A resolution commending her accomplishments and volunteer service was incorporated into the official meeting record.

New PACF Board Officers were announced as follows:

• Chairperson, Robert L. Wright II of Warfield Realtors®;
• Vice-Chairperson, Marie Caltrider, CPA;
• Treasurer, Randy Dick (retired); and,
• Secretary, Ann Beck (retired).

Three PACF Board members with a combined thirty years of service - Thomas Whaling, John Ralsten and Linda Gerrard - received commemorative resolutions upon “retiring” from PACF Board service after 10 years’ service each (the maximum two consecutive five-year terms).

Three new members have joined the PACF Board:

• Robin Wallace of Vienna, WV, is the Finance Manager and Community Outreach Leader at DuPont Washington Works, where she has worked for more than twenty years. Robin has served on the PACF’s Grants Committee and is a graduate of West Virginia University with a bachelor’s degree in Accounting.
• Greg Cottrill of Doddridge County is currently the Director of the Doddridge County Parks and Recreation Commission and has previously served as a President and leader within the YMCA organization in Charleston, WV, and Columbus, OH.  Greg has a bachelor’s degree from Marshall University and also serves on the Foundation’s Doddridge County Community Foundation Affiliate Advisory Board.
• Mary Anne Ketelsen, recent recipient of the State of West Virginia’s highest honor, the Distinguished West Virginian Award, is President and CEO of Mister Bee Potato Chips. An entrepreneur and philanthropist, Mary Anne is a graduate of Parkersburg High School, WVU at Parkersburg, and Glenville State College. She is the Fund Adviser to the Mary M. Welch Advised Fund.

Fiscal Year 2020 Highlights included:

• Despite the pandemic, PACF employed 22 local young people through its regional Civic Leaders Fellowship Program, improving their ability to make connections and to find good jobs.
• Awarded 277 scholarships worth $368,500 to students needing educational aid, an increase of more than 10% in the value awarded in 2019.
• Setting a new record high for Give Local MOV 2020–-with many fundraising events cancelled, the PACF’s innovative online giving campaign became even more essential, delivering a 25% increase in support for 53 nonprofits, raising $478,000 in just 24-hours!
• The PACF was reaccredited under the National Standards for Community Foundations;
• Its Audit firm, Suttle and Stalnaker, reported that the PACF had a ‘clean’ audit with no material findings.
• The PACF functions very efficiently; its 2020 operations cost ratio was 1.14%.
• The PACF’s investment performance continues to rank among the top 10% of community foundations nationwide.

Sjostedt Ritchie noted that the PACF has several programs open to applications at this time.  To learn more about its grants, scholarships, and other initiatives or to make online gifts, see www.pacfwv.com.   The PACF serves eleven counties including Calhoun, Doddridge, Gilmer, Jackson, Mason, Pleasants, Ritchie, Roane, Wirt, and Wood counties in West Virginia and Washington County, Ohio.