One Year to Change the Next 100
What if a single choice you made today could create a positive impact on your community for the next 100 years?
He didn’t know it at the time, but that is exactly what happened in 1924 when Martin M. Harnish, a local attorney, heard about an innovative idea – the Community Foundation movement – and brought it to Lancaster.
At the time, the idea was radical: philanthropy is for everyone. This movement invited everyone—not only the most wealthy—to think about how they could leave a legacy that would support their community forever.
Since 1924, the Lancaster County Community Foundation (then known as the Lancaster County Trust) has been harnessing the power of community-based philanthropy to strengthen Lancaster County.
“We’re here because in 1924, a group of visionaries came together to shape a better future for Lancaster County,” says Sam Bressi, president and CEO of the Lancaster County Community Foundation. “Thanks to their foresight and generosity, we’ve been part of creating a resilient, inclusive, and vibrant community.”
For the last century, Lancastrians have made charitable legacy gifts into our community’s endowment to support causes they care about – causes like education, the environment, poverty-alleviation, the arts, and more. These dollars are invested for long-term growth, yielding returns that continue to support Lancaster year after year.
Thanks to the generosity and foresight of hundreds of Lancastrians, the Community Foundation has distributed more than $60 million to support local causes and sparked the ExtraGive, which has generated $100 million in donations for local organizations.
One Million Dollars to Inspire the Future
This year, to help celebrate 100 years of supporting Lancaster County, the Community Foundation is investing more than $1 million into four Shaping Tomorrow future-focused areas: Creative Expression, Well-Being & Vibrancy, Next Generation, and Our Planet.
Through once-in-a-century grant awards, special scholarships, partnerships with regional business chambers, and engaging public events, the Community Foundation invites residents to imagine ideas that will unleash opportunities to create a more vibrant future for Lancaster County.
“We know that if we come together as a community and focus our efforts in these four areas now, we can set positive change in motion that will continue to build momentum over time,” Bressi says.
Be Part of the Conversation
Throughout the year, Lancastrians have been invited to free Shaping Tomorrow Together events, each celebrating one of the future-focused areas. From community-led art projects at Rock Lititz, to mindful body movement in Buchanan Park, to a youth-designed community gathering at Millersville University, the public has joined in activities, cheered on the Shaping Tomorrow Award winners, and shared their dreams for a brighter future.
Some Shaping Tomorrow projects are vast and sweeping, like Mental Health America of Lancaster County’s project to bridge gaps in services for youth with mental health needs. While other activities are focused and inspiring, like Mainspring of Ephrata’s collaborative community mural. Yet all the projects reflect the vision, energy, and commitment of our community members to create a Lancaster County for the future.
It’s Our Turn to Make History.
Thanks to 100 years of visionary funders, innovators, and changemakers that came before us, Lancaster County is a community brimming with possibility and promise. Those philanthropists dreamt beyond what they could accomplish in a single lifetime and imagined a thriving community for the generations they’d never meet. They showed us that philanthropy is for everyone.
From Giving Circles that inspire groups of people to collectively identify and meet a need, to individuals and families who leave a legacy gift in their will, Lancastrians from all walks of life are supporting the causes they care about and building our community’s endowment to be a resource for our shared future.
“The strategies we create and the contributions we make today will benefit generations to come,” Bressi says. “We’re inviting everybody who cares about the future of Lancaster County to be part of it.”
It’s our turn to make history, Lancaster County! Learn how you can be part of it at changethenext100.org.
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By Valentina Schade
