NCCF Celebrates 40th Anniversary at Annual Meeting

Last Monday marked a milestone for a nonprofit organization serving northern Chautauqua County. Donors, volunteers, nonprofit partners and community leaders gathered at SUNY Fredonia's Science Center for the Northern Chautauqua Community Foundation's 40th Annual Meeting. The theme for this year's meeting was "Placing Pieces with Purpose." NCCF President Rachel Foley explained that "every successful endeavor starts with pieces"...

Rachel Foley: importance of pieces

In her financial report, Executive Director Diane Hannum shared how much NCCF received in contributions and how much it awarded in grants and scholarships...

Diane Hannum: over $2.2 in contributions, nearly $1.9 million in grants

Hannum adds that NCCF's assets totaled $47,842,093 at the end of 2025, an increase of 12.12% from a year ago. The meeting also included an update on the five-year "Today. Tomorrow. Together." Campaign, which is wrapping up at the end of this year. Community Engagement Coordinator Leslie Wille says the foundation has raised $8.4 million to date...

Leslie Wille: reached 84% of goal

Other highlights from the meeting included the presentation of the George B. Weaver, Jr. Footprints Award to John and Marilyn Hemmer of Westfield, plus Jeannie Gallaway speaking about her experience as a Rural Philanthropy Fellow through the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation.

NCCF also welcomed new board members Jill Casey and Kitty Lyons, while Josiah Lamp was re-elected to an additional five-year term. New voting members included Melissa Baideme, Tracy Bennett, Rick Burgstrom, Brittany Cerrie-Allen, Kayleah Feser, Lisa Forbes, Mark Forbes, D'Arcy Furniss, Molly Harvey, Eric Hohenstein, Ida Lord, Jay Patel, Michelle Patterson, Brian Pender, Ben Ross, Stacy Shull, Beverly Sutton, and Tino Vecchio. Jeff Passafaro was re-elected for an additional three-year term.

Photos by Greg Larson