History of the Foundation
Pennsylvania Avenue, Parsons, WV after the flood of 1985.
Tucker Community Foundation serves as a source for local charitable giving and social investment.
Author Cleta Long stated, in her 1996 book History of Tucker County West Virginia, “the Tucker Community Endowment Foundation (nka Tucker Community Foundation) started following the flood of November 1985. At that time, Dr. Richard Goldman of St. George, Tom Cain of Elkins and Flood Recovery experts Bob and Ruth Kistner of Colorado met with many officials of government agencies seeking aid for flood stricken Tucker County. ”
Dr. Goldman was serving as President of the Tucker County Development Authority. He had heard about other disaster areas that were able to meet many of their recovery needs through their local community foundation. He then established a committee of fellow Authority members, Tom Cain, Sarah Minear* and Jana Kinkaid, who began the quest to establish a Foundation for the Tucker Community. Goldman’s dream became a reality in October 1988 when Jana Kinkaid and Senator Sarah Minear, assisted by attorney Joan Parker, formally organized and wrote the bylaws for the Tucker Community Endowment Foundation.
The Inaugural Dinner was held October 26, 1988. Senator Minear was chosen as the first president of the organization, a position she held until December 1994. Grant money from the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation, seed money from the late George W. Walburn and a donation from the Hambleton-Hendricks English Club enabled the organization to get off the ground. According to Cleta’s history, the goals of the Foundation were to strengthen, build, and make a difference in the communities it served by giving of itself, to itself.
The organization was run by an all volunteer board of directors until July 2004 when a full time Executive Director was hired and the Foundation acquired office space in the Tucker County Board of Education Annex located in Parsons. By that time the Foundation had shown significant growth. Endowed funds served 6 counties: Barbour, Grant, Preston, Pocahontas, Randolph and Tucker Counties.
In 2008, board members voted to shorten the name to Tucker Community Foundation (TCF ) recognizing that the Foundation was about more than just “endowments”.
As the Foundation’s assets continue to grow, so does its service area. In addition to the six counties mentioned previously, Mineral County, WV and Garrett County, MD are now included in the service area. The boundaries of our service area are determined by our donors.
Tucker Community Foundation has prospered due to the generosity and vision of donors that come from all walks of life and from all over the map. They include previous and current residents of our service area, second home owners, and a host of tourists, visitors and outdoor enthusiasts who frequent (and love) the area served by the Foundation.
TCF currently manages more than 80 Endowed Funds with assets in excess of $16 million, and we are still growing!
As a community foundation, TCF can offer an appealing array of giving options with maximum tax advantages and low management fees. Donations to TCF are invested for growth and income. The principal is invested for perpetuity; the income generated is awarded in the form of grant and/or scholarship awards. Most grants and scholarships are awarded based on a competitive application process.
TCF is a founding member of both the West Virginia Consortium of Community Foundations and WV Grantmakers, and a member of The Council on Foundations, the largest national organization serving foundations.
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*Sarah Minear served as WV State Senator from 1987-2007. She did not seek re-election in 2006. It should be noted that in 1992, at the suggestion of Senator Minear, a statewide council on foundations, West Virginia Grantmakers was formed with Senator Minear heading up the new organization.
