News
January 15th, 2020
20th Anniversary Cover Store in January 15 edition of Tompkins Weekly
Tompkins Weekly featured us on the cover of their January 15, 2020 issue.
Local Community Foundation celebrates 20 years
By Jessica Wickham, Tompkins Weekly
The Community Foundation of Tompkins County, a philanthropic organization based in Ithaca, is celebrating 20 years of service to the county this year. As those involved with and influenced by the organization describe, it’s been a long journey that has helped to create positive change throughout the county.
Community Foundations exist throughout the country, with the first one starting in 1914 in Cleveland, Ohio. As Community Foundation of Tompkins County CEO George Ferrari described, it wasn’t until the late 1990s that a group of county residents got together to create a Community Foundation here. And on May 4, 2000, the Community Foundation of Tompkins County was born.
“It was really local people making a decision about creating a resource for local people to support the work in the mission-driven sector,” Ferrari said. “It was a bunch of community leaders who got together and said, ‘This is part of what we need to complete the philanthropic infrastructure in Tompkins County.’”