The Luzerne Foundation - Here for good is an appropriate motto for this organization that has been doing  good  for more than 15 years.
     The Luzerne Foundation is a community foundation that helps people create charitable funds to do good things today and lasting good for tomorrow. It is a simple, personal, and powerful way to give back to the community.
Established in 1994, The Luzerne Foundation has assisted individuals and families, businesses, civic groups, and other nonprofit organizations with realizing their goals for philanthropy, resulting in the improvement of the quality of life for those living and working in Luzerne County.
    It is extremely gratifying being a part of The Luzerne Foundation,  said President Charles Barber.  All our focus is on our community and how we can best improve it as a collaborative effort. We work with most of the nonprofits across the community and strive to determine,  Where is the need and who is providing the most comprehensive service delivery?  Our goal is to assist our donors and allocate our charitable resources to those organizations that best meet that need. We look for both efficiency and effectiveness to improve our community and region.
 
Funds                                                                                                                                                             

    The Luzerne Foundation manages more than 230 funds, of which no two are exactly alike. (See www.luzfdn.org for a complete listing of all 230 funds.) The Foundation understands that its donors have many charitable interests so it makes it easy for donors to:

1.    find information about local nonprofits that fit their charitable giving goals.
2.    find information about various ways to give.
3.    find information regarding existing funds that fit their charitable giving goals.
4.    find information about starting their own fund within The Foundation.

    The Luzerne Foundation s involvement can be as simple as referring a donor to a community nonprofit organization or as involved as working closely with a donor and/or a donor s family, financial consultants, accountants, and attorneys to establish a new fund and creating a lasting family legacy.
    Two prominent funds of The Luzerne Foundation are The Fund for Luzerne County and the Millennium Circle Fund. Contributions to these funds have enabled The Foundation to provide grants to the seven key areas it focuses on as essential for a diverse, growing, and thriving community:

    • Social Services
    • Education and Scholarships
    • Arts and Culture
    • Neighborhoods and Community Development
    • Youth Issues
    • Historic Preservation and the Environment
    • Health and Wellness

    We provide a simple and efficient means for donors to create a personalized pool of charitable assets," Barber said. "Most of our funds are set up as endowments to permanently support and assist the various needs within the community. Our donors appreciate that The Luzerne Foundation knows most aspects of our community. It is not solely health and wellness and social services, but goes far beyond that, reaching to the arts and culture, the environment, and historic preservation, to name a few, as we look at our community as a whole, all of its component services and needs, so that together we can build and sustain a thriving and vital future for our residents.

Types of Funds                                                                                                                                             

    Unrestricted Funds (General Interest Funds) support any variety of need through open grant programs. Notifications and Requests for Applications are sent to more than 800 nonprofits throughout the region twice each year. The Foundation s Grants Distribution Committee evaluates the submitted grant applications on the basis of community need and relevance, numbers of people served, and benefit to the overall welfare of the community. Some examples are:

    • The Fund for Luzerne County was the very first fund of The Luzerne Foundation. The founding members of The Foundation felt it was extremely important that The Luzerne Foundation has a pool of unrestricted or general interest assets in order to best serve the various and changing needs within Luzerne County. This fund makes grants to wherever the Grants Distribution Committee and the professional staff determine the community s needs are the greatest. Donors who choose to give to unrestricted funds give to the future needs of the county, no matter what those needs may be.

    • Benjamin Franklin Trust Fund  A Penny Saved is a Penny Earned.  Benjamin Franklin s legacy lives on through The Luzerne Foundation. In his will, Franklin directed that after 200 years, half of the accumulated funds of his estate go to the State of Pennsylvania to be used for whatever the public officials felt was necessary. The Luzerne Foundation received $30,000 to establish the  Ben Franklin Trust , which benefits young people and educational programs within the county.

    Donor-Advised Funds are established by people who wish to have a continuing role in the grant process and decide year-to-year where they want their contributions to go. For example:

    • The Corrine Pawling Family Fund was established by the Pawling Family to support important organizations, programs, and services, particularly those that help deserving children who might not have the chance to become self-reliant citizens through education and/or career training opportunities.

    • The John & Barbara Sobeck Charitable Fund was established in 2008 to assist locally based nonprofit agencies in continuing to provide specialized support services to residents in our area. The Sobecks view their personal and corporate contributions as a means of  giving back to the community that has given us so much.

    Designated Funds are given automatically to particular, pre-selected non-profit organizations each year at the donor s request. Some examples are:

    • The Castle Auditorium Fund is dedicated to the preservation of the arts so that present and future generations may enjoy educational opportunities and community cultural events while celebrating the unique heritage of the Castle Auditorium.

    • Luzerne County Historical Society Funds raise the consciousness of area residents concerning their heritage, thereby enabling them to better understand the area s uniqueness and its place in today s world.

    Field of Interest Funds focus on areas of special interest to the donor. Grants from these funds are made to meet community needs with that special area of concern, such as the arts, the environment, health and wellness issues, children s issues, and historic and environmental preservation. These funds are flexible to meet changing community needs. Some examples are:

    • The Health Fund of The Luzerne Foundation grew out of a collaboration effort by area hospitals and health care providers to improve the health of persons in our broad community. In the mid to late 90s, area hospitals and other health care organizations joined together in a regional effort to study and evaluate the most pressing health care needs of our population. This collaborative process resulted in a bi-county program focusing on prevention and wellness called The Healthy Northeast Initiative. Each year, grants for innovative and collaborative programs are given to area agencies that are working to improve the health of people in our community.

    • The Max and Lorraine Fund supports nonprofit organizations dedicated to helping children who suffer from asthma through asthma related education and medical assistance for their families. The Fund was established in 1993 by Mike Tracy in loving memory of his wife, Lorraine Button Tracy, and their 10 year old son, Max Tracy, who both lost their lives to asthma. The Fund helps support projects such as Camp AsthmaCadabra, held at the YMCA s Camp Kresge in White Haven.

    Organizational Endowment Funds   A charitable agency or organization creates an endowment fund to provide ongoing income to that particular organization. Leaders of nonprofit agencies or organizations often turn to The Luzerne Foundation to manage their endowments, thereby freeing valuable time to concentrate on the program work they know best. The Foundation provides investment management and accountability for all fund administration and accounting as well as maintaining gift records, distributions, and filing reports and tax returns with the Internal Revenue Service. Some examples are:

    • The Greater Pittston YMCA was founded in 1880 and today serves nearly three in five people in the Greater Pittston region as a community center for all ages and abilities. This endowment fund was established to ensure long-term financial viability of the Pittston YMCA and provide program assistance to children and families in financial need, as well as membership and camp tuition assistance.

    • The SPCA Jade Memorial Fund helps qualified members of the community get proper emergency care for their pets and help pay for any resulting emergency medical expenses. The fund is named in memory of the heroic efforts to save Jade, a beloved Rottweiler.

    Scholarship Funds are designed to most often support the education or schooling of local individuals. They are often established in memory of a loved one, friend, or beloved educator. Each fund has a scholarship committee that establishes criteria and advises the award selections each year. The various funds gave more than 70 scholarships this past year. Some examples are:

    • The First Lieutenant Michael J. Cleary Memorial Scholarship Fund benefits deserving students from the Dallas Area School District. The fund was established by his loving family and friends to honor his memory and advance causes in the community that Michael believed in and supported. The Dallas native and First Lieutenant was killed in Iraq in 2005.

    • The Dr. David Kistler Scholarship Award is announced for a student(s) graduating from the sixth grade at the Kistler Elementary School, Wilkes-Barre, who shows academic achievement, good citizenship, personal accomplishments, and economic need. The actual scholarship is awarded at the successful completion of high school. Dr. Kistler s vision has been instrumental in motivating and inspiring young students to strive for a college education. Nearly every student who has been awarded the Kistler Scholarship has been the class valedictorian,near the top of the class, or exceptional in one way or another. Perhaps these kids would have achieved these accomplishments without this award, but chances are that knowing that someone believes in them at the age of 12, has helped them stay out of trouble and keep up their grades. Dr. Kistler has been such a tremendous inspiration to these students.

    • The Millennium Circle Fund of the Luzerne Foundation was created by a special group of donors whose one-time gifts of $2,000 play a pivotal role in helping The Foundation identify significant unmet community needs. The ultimate goal is to have 2,000 members and an endowment fund that would award grants to our community totaling $200,000 or more each year.
   Each member of The Millennium Circle is encouraged to be the eyes and ears of the fund, to recommend areas of need, and to vote on grants. A Millennium Circle donor can be an individual, a family, a business, or a civic group. Membership continues in perpetuity as gifts continue to benefit the community for generations to come.

People                                                                                                                                                          

   The Luzerne Foundation s board, staff, and volunteers are part of a dynamic team. Barber gave this as one example of their involvement in the improvement of the community.
   We enjoy supporting playgrounds which are typically the center point of a neighborhood providing recreation and socialization," he said. "But, they also highlight the economic, emotional, or even morale of a neighborhood.  If you see trash, filth and broken equipment, you may not want to live there or take your children there. But if you see a clean and safe playground where the equipment works and is maintained, then that is a community that people believe in; it provides a vital and optimistic presence where people may choose to live. Thanks to our many donors, we have participated in parks throughout Luzerne County meeting a variety of needs including fully handicapped accessible parks. These are some of the many ways that we show how we believe in our community.
     Our community is like a woven fabric," Barber continued. "Each organization and the diverse needs it may address represent any one thread. These diverse threads, woven together into a beautiful tapestry, create a fabric far more durable and interesting than any one strand. The Foundation is the common thread- the means by which we can sustain and improve the arts and culture as well as meet the needs of the hungry and homeless. We look at our community, with all its beauty and blemishes, joys and sorrows, to contribute to a cohesive whole in which people want to live and work, start businesses and families, and create a bright and optimistic future for a community we can all call home. Everything we do helps somebody in some way.
   Executive Assistant Diane Dutko noted,  When I started working at The Luzerne Foundation four years ago, I wasn t looking for just a job, I was looking for a life mission  a way to give back to our community. Witnessing first-hand the generosity of our donors and the impact their gifts have on our community is very gratifying. I feel privileged to be a part of the process.

Grant Information                                                                                                                                         

   The Luzerne Foundation has awarded more than $14.5 million in grants since its founding in 1994. Grant applications and guidelines can be downloaded at www.luzfdn.org.

Information for Donors                                                                                                                                 

   The Luzerne Foundation accepts gifts of all sizes and in a variety of forms. For an endowment, a minimum of $10,000 is required so that significant awards can be made each year. However, donors can begin a fund with as little as $1,000 and build it to $10,000 within five years. Pass-thru funds can be established with $1,000 or more and are intended to meet current needs and future opportunities.
      This year we have already provided more than 3-Ω million dollars in grants toward a variety of enterprises," said Barber. "We are a charity and we depend on donations for our administration and operation, but every penny that comes into The Foundation will go out multiple times to the community because that is the nature of endowment. As we like to say, it s a simple, personal, and powerful way to give back to our community. We are here for good.

The Luzerne Foundation  |  140 Main Street 2nd Floor  |  Luzerne, PA 18709
570-714-1570  |  Fax: 570-300-1712  |  E-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it   |  wwwluzfdn.org

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