About
Since its inception in 1999, Corry Community Foundation has amassed more than $13 million in individual and agency endowments.
The Corry Community Foundation works to connect donors to their favorite nonprofits. When an individual or a family creates an endowment within the Foundation, the original gift grows while the earnings can help local nonprofits far into the future. Endowments make a long-lasting impact.
If you or your family are interested in establishing an endowment to meet personal philanthropic needs, please contact Susannah Weis Frigon at (814) 454-0843 for more information.
History
Corry Community Foundation officially began in 2000 when 16 local families stepped forward with $500 donations.
Their donations helped realize the Corry community’s longstanding wish to have a charitable fund to benefit the community and its residents. The citizens who made those initial $500 donations were largely led by the vision of A. Bruce and Arlene Smith.
Prior to his death in 1975, A. Bruce Smith, determined that he wanted to make his substantial estate a lasting gift to the people of Corry who had been his employees, neighbors, and friends. He established the A. Bruce and Arlene Smith Fund under the auspices of the Erie Community Foundation with the provision that all revenue would benefit the residents of Corry directly.
When his wife Arlene passed away in 1986, she also left her estate to Corry. However, it was her wish that local residents control the allocation of funds. As a result, the Arlene H. Smith Charitable Foundation was established as an independent entity with a four-person board.
We are eternally grateful for Bruce and Arlene Smith's foresight and planning.