One of the CCCF’s grants last year supported the Community Guidance Center’s Bison Outreach Project which provides information to families regarding drug and alcohol services.
The Clearfield County Charitable Foundation is ready to distribute applications for the 2020 CCCF Grant Program.
In 2019, the grant program awarded over $23,000 to projects that benefitted communities from all areas of Clearfield County. Since inception, the CCCF Grant Program has awarded over $133,000 in total funding.
For 2020, the Clearfield County Charitable Foundation Board of Directors is looking for applications from groups that will address the needs of communities and specifically the board is encouraging participation from groups that have never applied before.
CCCF Executive Director Mark McCracken said “with the recent economic downturn many communities are seeing a need for new programs that will address specific problems. The Charitable Foundation, through the grant program, is looking to fund projects that will meet specific needs and provide solutions that will make our communities better.This year, the CCCF Board and our Grant Committee is very interested to see some new and innovative ideas submitted for consideration”.
The Charitable Foundation has an established Grant Committee that will review and critically score all applications. Once the review process is completed, the committee will provide recommendations to the foundation board for the final award of the grant funds.
To be eligible for a grant award, applying agencies/organizations must provide services in local communities and be located within Clearfield County. Priority is given to projects that have potential for long-term impact, support the county’s overall needs, do not duplicate other services and will aid residents not currently being served.
The grants are funded by the Charitable Foundation’s Community Fund along with several individual endowment funds that were set up in the name of certain individuals interested in helping their communities and projects all across the county.
Additionally, the CCL Donor Designated Fund was established for organizations in Clearfield Borough, Curwensville Borough and Lawrence Township and the Sara Jane Mattern Fund was established by the Mattern estate to fund annual grants to four specific organizations in Osceola Mills.
For those unable to download the forms, paper copies of the application and documents can be requested via email to cccfexecdir@outlook.com or by calling (814)-592-7331.
Deadline for submission of the grant applications is Friday, September 25th, 2020.
For those interested in financially supporting the Charitable Foundation Grant Program or any of our endowment or scholarship funds, contributions may be made at the website https://clearfieldcharitablefoundation.org/, clicking on the OUR FUNDS button, selecting either LIST OF GENERAL FUNDS or SCHOLARSHIP FUNDS and then selected the specific fund by clicking the DONATE button beside the fund you want to donate to.
Online donations are processed through a secure Paypal account. Donations can also be mailed to: Clearfield County Charitable Foundation, P.O. Box 1442, Clearfield PA 16830 – please designate on the check memo line the fund you would like your donation credited to.
We also welcome inquiries from those interested in establishing endowment or scholarship funds to benefit local communities and organizations.
Visit Clearfield County Executive Director Josiah Jones presented a donation from proceeds of the Lumberjack Chainsaw Carvers Event auction to Clearfield County Charitable Foundation Executive Director Mark McCracken.
The Clearfield County Charitable Foundation received a donation of $1,377, which was a portion of the proceeds from the auction held at the completion of the Lumberjack Chainsaw Carvers Event held on June 26th and 27th at the Big Lots Plaza in Clearfield.
The event was organized and sponsored by Visit Clearfield County with additional sponsorship by Rural King, Legacy Resource Partners, Pennmark Properties and Blue Moon Media and Marketing.
The featured carvers at the event were Todd Gladfelter, Mark Mann, Knotty Ray and Doug Ryan.
VCC Executive Director Josiah Jones said the sponsors and the participants in the event wanted to give something back to the community that would make an impact. The decision was made to give a portion of the proceeds from the event auction to CCCF to be designated for use in their community grants program.
CCCF Executive Director Mark McCracken said “we really appreciate the opportunity to be involved in the initial Lumberjack Chainsaw Carvers Event and thank Visit Clearfield County for the invitation and donation.
“The donated funds will go directly to our grants program and will be part of the funding for our 2020 grant cycle that will be starting in early August with the grants awarded later this year.
“We appreciate the talents the 4 carvers, Todd Gladfelter, Mark Mann, Knotty Ray and Doug Ryan, put on display and thank them for donating their pieces for the auction”.
Jones and McCracken both noted for a first time event put together on short notice, it was “a tremendous success”.
Both thanked the corporate sponsors, the participating carvers, the food vendors, the staff at Visit Clearfield County, Bee Kind Winery for donation of gift baskets for the auction and Tim Winters who served as auctioneer.
Special thanks to everyone who came out to the event and those individuals who bid on the auction items.
Those participating in the chainsaw carving sitting on the bench that received the highest bid are from left to right are Doug Ryan and Ray “Knotty Ray” Good with VCC Board Chair Susan Williams. Standing from left to right are Todd Gladfelter and Mark Mann.
Pictured are Parker Marshall – recipient of CAHS Class of 62 Scholarship, Kenneth McMillen Competitive Swimming Scholarship, Marsha Novey Scholarship, and Cunningham Scholarship and Noah Jordan – recipient of the Marsha Novey Scholarship.
The Clearfield County Charitable Foundation is pleased to announce the following 2020 scholarship recipients chosen by the individual scholarship fund committees. T-HARP / Taylor Harpster Memorial Scholarship – Lindsey Bordas and Shelby Zelensky, Golden Bison Alumni Association – Eric Griffith, Erica Fry and Nursing Scholarship – Lauren Stucke, CAHS Class of ’62 Scholarship Fund – Parker Marshall, CAHS Class of ’75 Scholarship Fund – Maynard Weidman, Philip Rowles and Lauren Coleman, Jerry Read Scholarship Fund John Daniel McKenzie, Kenneth McMillen Endowment Competitive Swimming Scholarship – Parker Marshall, Marsha Novey Scholarship Fund – Noah Jordan and Parker Marshall, Janet McCracken Hansard Memorial Scholarship Fund – Kimberly Wilsoncroft, Cunningham Scholarship – Kimberly Wilsoncroft and Parker Marshall, Eileen C. Withey Scholarship – Morgan Warrick, Shirley Rowles Miller Scholarship – Raylee Sunderlin and the DuBois Rotary Club Scholarship – Jordan Hartzfeld and Alexandra Volpe.
In addition to the scholarships listed, the Clearfield Education Foundation awarded 21 scholarships to students enrolled to attend the Clearfield Campus of Lock Haven University.
The scholarship funds listed awarded over $40,000 this year to help students from communities across Clearfield County attain their goals of higher education. The Clearfield County Charitable Foundation congratulates all the students listed above and thanks those who donate to help fund these scholarships. We also give special recognition to the people involved with the various scholarship funds for their dedicated work raising funds and selecting the recipients.
John McKenzie is the recipient of this year’s Gerald Read Memorial Scholarship sponsored by the CHS Class of ‘73. Representing the Class of ‘73 are Carolyn Buzzanca Smeal and Marjorie McCorkle Stewart.Kimberly Wilsoncroft was the winner of the Janet McCracken Hansard Scholarship.
The Clearfield County Charitable Foundation is pleased to announce that over $4,600 was donated by citizens from communities across Clearfield County and other areas to fund a special distribution to area food banks and food related programs. In response to the economic impact communities and citizens are facing from the COVID-19 crisis, the Clearfield County Charitable Foundation board authorized a special distribution to local food banks and other food related programs. All money donated to the CCCF Basic Needs Fund between April 24th and May 15th will be part of the distribution and additional funds donated prior will be added for a total distribution of $4,800.
The Charitable Foundation will be distributing the available funds to food banks operated by Central PA Community Action in Clearfield, Curwensville, Philipsburg, Burnside/Mahaffey, Westover, Houtzdale, Osceola Mills, Karthaus, West Branch/Allport, and the DuBois Ministerium Food Pantry and DuBois Salvation Army. Additionally, funds will go to the Salvation Army in Clearfield, Living Bread Ministries, the Anti-Hunger Program operated by the Moshannon Valley YMCA that services communities in the Philipsburg-Osceola, West Branch and Moshannon Valley areas, the Central PA Food Bank and the Clearfield County Area Agency on Aging meal programs for their clients who are more homebound due to the COVID-19 crisis.
CCCF Executive Director Mark McCracken said “the Charitable Foundation Board recognized that now is a time when strong communities come together to help each other. On April 24th, the board authorized doing a short fundraising effort to collect funds to combine with existing monies in our Basic Needs Fund to do a special distribution to county food banks and anti-hunger programs. The Charitable Foundation thanks the people who donated to the effort. As our area moves to the green phase and people’s lives get back to normal, it is our hope these funds will help our community food banks restock their inventories so they can continue to help those who need it”.
The Clearfield County Charitable Foundation Board of Directors makes an annual distribution to area food banks and earlier this year released $3,900 before the COVID-19 crisis hit.
CCCF Board Chairman Kevin McMillen said “Even though we already released the annual food bank distribution, the board felt now was the time to step up and coordinate another distribution of funds to help our communities and families get through this difficult time”.
In response to the economic impacts communities and citizens across Clearfield County are facing from the COVID-19 crisis, the Clearfield County Charitable Foundation is planning a special round of funding to help meet these needs.
After surveying several local social service agencies to determine areas of need, the Charitable Foundation Board of Directors, during their recent board meeting, voted unanimously to release funding from their Basic Needs Fund to help communities throughout Clearfield County.
To accomplish the fund distribution with maximum impact, the Charitable Foundation is asking community members for donations, by May 15th, to the Basic Needs Fund.
Donations can be made online at www.clearfieldcharitablefoundation.org where you will see a DONATE NOW button on the main page that will direct your donation to the Basic Needs Fund via the CCCF secure PayPal account. Donations can also be made by mail to the Clearfield County Charitable Foundation, PO Box 1442, Clearfield PA 16830 and please write BASIC NEEDS FUND on the check memo line.
Funds raised by May 15th for the Basic Needs Fund will be combined with several recent special donations that were received with instructions from the donors to use their donations to help offset the impacts from the COVID-19 crisis.
Based on the aforementioned survey of needs, the Charitable Foundation is planning to direct funding to various food banks countywide that are operated by Central PA Community Action, the Salvation Army in both Clearfield and DuBois and the Living Bread Ministries. Funding was also approved for the Anti-Hunger Program operated by the Moshannon Valley YMCA that services communities in the Philipsburg-Osceola, West Branch and Moshannon Valley school districts.
Additional funding was approved for the Clearfield County Area Agency on Aging to provide frozen and weekend meal packs for their senior clients who are more homebound due to the COVID-19 crisis.
The Clearfield County Charitable Foundation Board of Directors makes an annual distribution to area food banks and released $3,900 in January before the COVID-19 crisis hit.
CCCF Board Chairman Kevin McMillen said “Even though we already released the annual food bank distribution, the board felt now was the time to step up and coordinate another distribution of funds to help our communities and families get through this difficult time”.
For more information on the Clearfield County Charitable Foundation, please visit our website at www.clearfieldcharitablefoundation.org or look up our Facebook page where information is shared about our various funds, scholarships, grant programs and ongoing projects.
Clearfield County Cancer Support Inc receives grant from Clearfield County Charitable Foundation – Pictured – Mark McCracken CCCF Executive Director with Sonya Greene, Marie Kavelak and Mike Greene of Clearfield County Cancer Support Inc.
CLEARFIELD – Among the grants recently awarded by the Clearfield County Charitable Foundation is $1,000 to Clearfield County Cancer Support Inc. of Curwensville.
“The support offered by Clearfield County Cancer Support is important,” said CCCF Executive Director Mark McCracken.
“This
is an idea brought to life by Sonya and Mike Greene because they lived through
the process of battling cancer and saw, firsthand, what was missing in the
community support system.
“This is the
type of program the Clearfield County Charitable Foundation looks to support
with our grant program because it assists people throughout Clearfield County
in a time of great need”.
Founders Sonya
and Mike Greene stated “we appreciate the $1,000 grant from the Clearfield
County Charitable Foundation.We started Clearfield County Cancer Support, Inc.
as a way to help and support individuals going through cancer
treatment.
“There are other organizations dedicated to research and finding more effective treatment for the future, but our mission is helping individuals now, to get through the daily struggles they face while undergoing cancer treatment”.
Sonya Greene’s own cancer story began in 2014.
She was getting ready to start a new job on a Monday, but on the immediate Friday before, she had an appointment with her doctor where she received the devastating news that she had Stage 2 breast cancer. What was a time of exciting optimism for the new job immediately turned into a period of uncertainty and questions of what the future held, not only for Sonya, but for everyone close to her, especially her husband Mike.
Speaking with Sonya and Mike they will tell you that Sonya was able to fight and win her battle because they had a good health insurance plan that provided access to a great team of doctors and a treatment plan that was successful. But during the process, it also became obvious that undergoing many months of treatment and appointments upset other aspects of their daily lives. Transportation to medical appointments had to be arranged, personal funds designated for daily costs like utility bills, maintenance on the home, property taxes and other expenses had to be diverted to help deal with the health issues Sonya was dealing with.
When they inquired around to various agencies,
they found there was nothing in Clearfield County that could provide direct
assistance to cancer patients for issues that arose outside of the actual
medical treatments.
After Sonya successfully completed her treatment,
she and Mike turned their efforts and energy towards creating a program to help
fill the void for cancer patients. In 2016, they founded Clearfield County
Cancer Support, Inc. as a 501c3 nonprofit foundation to provide assistance and
support to cancer patients so they can focus on their treatments rather than
worrying about problems that spring up in daily life.
Mike stressed “there are some misconceptions that
we are part of the American Cancer Society and/or Relay For Life, but we are a
standalone organization. We operate strictly with volunteers and 95% of
the funds we raise benefit cancer patients living in Clearfield County with the
remaining funds going towards operational costs, money raised here stays here.
“We have
several ongoing fundraisers including our annual golf tournament scheduled for
May 23rd at Eagles Ridge, a Cash Bingo held every other month at the
Curwensville VFW and new for 2020 we are joining Morris Twp. Volunteer Fire
Department and Clearfield Moose in organizing the Snakefest Musicfest that will
be held Saturday June 20th at the Morris Township Volunteer Fire
Department Recreation Center in Morrisdale.
We are also host a Basket Raffle at St. Timothy’s Rec Hall in
Curwensville on July 26th, 2020”.
Mike also noted they have several businesses that have been giving ongoing support to the organization.
“Pennsylvania Grain Processing (Ethanol Plant) and
Wal-Mart Distribution Center have been very generous in their support, Rob
Brown of C. Classic (Dodge Chrysler Jeep) has been involved in supporting the
annual golf tournament and Eagle Haven Computers designed, maintains and hosts
our website”.
For more information on Clearfield County Cancer Support, Inc, please visit their website at www.clfdccs.org and for more information on the Clearfield County Charitable Foundation visit www.clearfieldcharitablefoundation.org.
CCCF Executive Director Mark B. McCracken presents a check to Robin Knepp of the Philipsburg Food Pantry. The Philipsburg location was added by the CCCF’s Board for support this year.
The
Clearfield County Charitable Foundation Board of Directors recently approved a
distribution of $3,900 in funding to area food banks.
Funding
was provided to food pantries managed by Central Pennsylvania Community Action
in the communities of Clearfield, Curwensville,
Philipsburg, Burnside/Mahaffey, Houtzdale, Osceola Mills, Karthaus, West
Branch/Allport and 2 DuBois locations – the DuBois Ministerium Food Pantry and
emergency needs at the DuBois Salvation Army.
Funding
was also provided to the Living Bread Ministries, which operates a location in
the East
End
section of Clearfield, and the Clearfield
Salvation Army for their food bank.
CCCF
Executive Director Mark B. McCracken joined with Community Action Director of
Operations and Finance Michelle Stiner to visit several food pantry
locations.
During
the visits McCracken noted “the community food pantries have become an
important resource to help families in communities all across Clearfield County.
“The
Clearfield County Charitable Foundation has a specific fund, the Basic Needs
Fund, that is dedicated to supporting area food banks and this year the CCCF
Board added an additional distribution for the Philipsburg Food Pantry to help
people who utilize that location”.
The
Clearfield County Charitable Foundation is working to enhance communities
throughout Clearfield County through funding, grants
and scholarship opportunities.
Anyone
who would like to contribute to support future distributions to area food
pantries can visit the CCCF website at www.clearfieldcharitablefoundation.org and donate online
specifically to the Basic Needs Fund or send donations by mail to PO Box 1442, Clearfield PA 16830.
Gail Pennington of the Houtzdale Food Bank receives a check from the CCCF’s Executive Director Mark McCracken. Robin Clark of the Clearfield Food Bank receives a check from the CCCF presented by Mark McCracken – Executive Director.
Pictured, from left to right, are: Mark McCracken, executive director of the
Clearfield County Charitable Foundation, Sherry Skidmore, grants administrator
at Community Guidance
Center, and Terry Struble,
superintendent of Clearfield Area
School District.
Feb. 18, 2020
CLEARFIELD – The Community Guidance Center recently received a grant from the Clearfield County Charitable Foundation for a collaborative project between the Clearfield Area Junior-Senior High School and Community Guidance Center’s Drug and Alcohol program.
The Bison Outreach Project involves student volunteers who will help
distribute drug and alcohol treatment information at Bison sporting events.
“The Bison Outreach Project coordinated between the Community
Guidance Center
and the Clearfield Area
School District is the exact type
of project the Clearfield County Charitable Foundation looks to support with
funding,” said Mark B. McCracken, the foundation’s executive director.
“It meets the goals of the Charitable Foundation to support projects that
will better the community overall and, even more importantly, the involvement
of young people in this positive project is what is needed to build our next
generation of community leaders.”
For more information about the Drug and Alcohol program at Community
Guidance Center,
visit thecgc.com.
To make an appointment or a referral, call 814-765-5337.
Names Executive Director, Announces Opening of Office
Jan. 13, 2020
As the Clearfield County Charitable Foundation approaches its 20th year of existence and a new decade begins, the board of directors of the foundation has been looking at ways to stimulate growth and identify new projects for the foundation to become involved in.
To attain this goal, in early 2019, the board of
directors began searching for an executive director to run the operations of
the foundation and a central location for an office for the foundation.
Foundation Board Chairman Kevin McMillen announced
today the Clearfield County Charitable Foundation is appointing Mark B.
McCracken to the position of Executive Director and, in the very near future,
an office for the foundation will be opened in the former Sears building at the
corner of Market and Third streets in Clearfield. The office space is being leased from
Community Media Group, the parent company of The Progress.
McMillen stated “We are pleased to have Mark
McCracken working for the Clearfield County Charitable Foundation. He recently completed 16 years serving as
Clearfield County Commissioner and has experience working with communities and
leaders throughout the county. He has
past experience serving on area charitable and community agency boards
including the Clearfield County Area Agency on Aging, Central Pennsylvania
Community Action, Clearfield Area United Way and the former Clearfield Chapter
of the American Red Cross”.
“Additionally Mark has served on many important
regional and state level boards including the North Central Pennsylvania
Regional Planning and Development Commission board, was twice appointed by
Governor Tom Wolf to the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency (PEMA) 911
Advisory Committee and was a founding member of the Pennsylvania Counties
Health Insurance Purchasing Cooperative (PCHIPC), where he served 10 years as
chairman of the PCHIPC board”.
On accepting the position McCracken said “This is an
exciting opportunity and I look forward to continuing the work the original
founders of the Clearfield County Charitable Foundation started almost 20 years
ago. The current board of directors
have put a great amount of time and effort into growing the foundation in
recent years and I want to build on that success. I am also looking forward to working with
the people who have established individual funds managed by the
foundation. My foremost goal is to
recruit new involvement and grow all the funds so communities and individuals
throughout Clearfield County can see benefits and positive results”.
The Clearfield County Charitable Foundation was
formed on November 4, 2001, starting with one fund valued at $10,000 and has
now grown to 46 active funds totaling almost $7 million in value as of December
31st, 2019. Through
scholarships and grants, the Clearfield County Charitable Foundation is working
to enhance the quality of living in communities all over Clearfield
County. Since 2006, the CCCF grant program alone has awarded over
$102,900 to 74 different groups in Clearfield County.
You can learn more about the Clearfield County Charitable Foundation by visiting their website at www. clearfieldcharitablefoundation.org.
Posted: August 8, 2020 by Mark McCracken
2020 Grant Applications Now Available
The Clearfield County Charitable Foundation is ready to distribute applications for the 2020 CCCF Grant Program.
In 2019, the grant program awarded over $23,000 to projects that benefitted communities from all areas of Clearfield County. Since inception, the CCCF Grant Program has awarded over $133,000 in total funding.
For 2020, the Clearfield County Charitable Foundation Board of Directors is looking for applications from groups that will address the needs of communities and specifically the board is encouraging participation from groups that have never applied before.
CCCF Executive Director Mark McCracken said “with the recent economic downturn many communities are seeing a need for new programs that will address specific problems. The Charitable Foundation, through the grant program, is looking to fund projects that will meet specific needs and provide solutions that will make our communities better.This year, the CCCF Board and our Grant Committee is very interested to see some new and innovative ideas submitted for consideration”.
The Charitable Foundation has an established Grant Committee that will review and critically score all applications. Once the review process is completed, the committee will provide recommendations to the foundation board for the final award of the grant funds.
To be eligible for a grant award, applying agencies/organizations must provide services in local communities and be located within Clearfield County. Priority is given to projects that have potential for long-term impact, support the county’s overall needs, do not duplicate other services and will aid residents not currently being served.
The grants are funded by the Charitable Foundation’s Community Fund along with several individual endowment funds that were set up in the name of certain individuals interested in helping their communities and projects all across the county.
Additionally, the CCL Donor Designated Fund was established for organizations in Clearfield Borough, Curwensville Borough and Lawrence Township and the Sara Jane Mattern Fund was established by the Mattern estate to fund annual grants to four specific organizations in Osceola Mills.
The grant application, instructions and all necessary submission documents are available to download in MS Word format or PDF format at https://clearfieldcharitablefoundation.org/forms-downloads.
For those unable to download the forms, paper copies of the application and documents can be requested via email to cccfexecdir@outlook.com or by calling (814)-592-7331.
Deadline for submission of the grant applications is Friday, September 25th, 2020.
For those interested in financially supporting the Charitable Foundation Grant Program or any of our endowment or scholarship funds, contributions may be made at the website https://clearfieldcharitablefoundation.org/, clicking on the OUR FUNDS button, selecting either LIST OF GENERAL FUNDS or SCHOLARSHIP FUNDS and then selected the specific fund by clicking the DONATE button beside the fund you want to donate to.
Online donations are processed through a secure Paypal account. Donations can also be mailed to: Clearfield County Charitable Foundation, P.O. Box 1442, Clearfield PA 16830 – please designate on the check memo line the fund you would like your donation credited to.
We also welcome inquiries from those interested in establishing endowment or scholarship funds to benefit local communities and organizations.
Posted: July 3, 2020 by Mark McCracken
CCCF Receives Donation from Proceeds of Lumberjack Chainsaw Carvers Event
Visit Clearfield County Executive Director Josiah Jones presented a donation from proceeds of the Lumberjack Chainsaw Carvers Event auction to Clearfield County Charitable Foundation Executive Director Mark McCracken.
The Clearfield County Charitable Foundation received a donation of $1,377, which was a portion of the proceeds from the auction held at the completion of the Lumberjack Chainsaw Carvers Event held on June 26th and 27th at the Big Lots Plaza in Clearfield.
The event was organized and sponsored by Visit Clearfield County with additional sponsorship by Rural King, Legacy Resource Partners, Pennmark Properties and Blue Moon Media and Marketing.
The featured carvers at the event were Todd Gladfelter, Mark Mann, Knotty Ray and Doug Ryan.
VCC Executive Director Josiah Jones said the sponsors and the participants in the event wanted to give something back to the community that would make an impact. The decision was made to give a portion of the proceeds from the event auction to CCCF to be designated for use in their community grants program.
CCCF Executive Director Mark McCracken said “we really appreciate the opportunity to be involved in the initial Lumberjack Chainsaw Carvers Event and thank Visit Clearfield County for the invitation and donation.
“The donated funds will go directly to our grants program and will be part of the funding for our 2020 grant cycle that will be starting in early August with the grants awarded later this year.
“We appreciate the talents the 4 carvers, Todd Gladfelter, Mark Mann, Knotty Ray and Doug Ryan, put on display and thank them for donating their pieces for the auction”.
Jones and McCracken both noted for a first time event put together on short notice, it was “a tremendous success”.
Both thanked the corporate sponsors, the participating carvers, the food vendors, the staff at Visit Clearfield County, Bee Kind Winery for donation of gift baskets for the auction and Tim Winters who served as auctioneer.
Special thanks to everyone who came out to the event and those individuals who bid on the auction items.
Posted: June 15, 2020 by Mark McCracken
Event Will Benefit the CCCF
Last Updated: June 15, 2020 by Mark McCracken
2020 Scholarship Winners
The Clearfield County Charitable Foundation is pleased to announce the following 2020 scholarship recipients chosen by the individual scholarship fund committees. T-HARP / Taylor Harpster Memorial Scholarship – Lindsey Bordas and Shelby Zelensky, Golden Bison Alumni Association – Eric Griffith, Erica Fry and Nursing Scholarship – Lauren Stucke, CAHS Class of ’62 Scholarship Fund – Parker Marshall, CAHS Class of ’75 Scholarship Fund – Maynard Weidman, Philip Rowles and Lauren Coleman, Jerry Read Scholarship Fund John Daniel McKenzie, Kenneth McMillen Endowment Competitive Swimming Scholarship – Parker Marshall, Marsha Novey Scholarship Fund – Noah Jordan and Parker Marshall, Janet McCracken Hansard Memorial Scholarship Fund – Kimberly Wilsoncroft, Cunningham Scholarship – Kimberly Wilsoncroft and Parker Marshall, Eileen C. Withey Scholarship – Morgan Warrick, Shirley Rowles Miller Scholarship – Raylee Sunderlin and the DuBois Rotary Club Scholarship – Jordan Hartzfeld and Alexandra Volpe.
In addition to the scholarships listed, the Clearfield Education Foundation awarded 21 scholarships to students enrolled to attend the Clearfield Campus of Lock Haven University.
The scholarship funds listed awarded over $40,000 this year to help students from communities across Clearfield County attain their goals of higher education.
The Clearfield County Charitable Foundation congratulates all the students listed above and thanks those who donate to help fund these scholarships. We also give special recognition to the people involved with the various scholarship funds for their dedicated work raising funds and selecting the recipients.
sponsored by the CHS Class of ‘73.
Representing the Class of ‘73 are Carolyn Buzzanca Smeal and Marjorie McCorkle Stewart.
Last Updated: June 15, 2020 by Mark McCracken
Clearfield County Charitable Foundation Releases Funds for COVID-19 Response
The Clearfield County Charitable Foundation is pleased to announce that over $4,600 was donated by citizens from communities across Clearfield County and other areas to fund a special distribution to area food banks and food related programs. In response to the economic impact communities and citizens are facing from the COVID-19 crisis, the Clearfield County Charitable Foundation board authorized a special distribution to local food banks and other food related programs. All money donated to the CCCF Basic Needs Fund between April 24th and May 15th will be part of the distribution and additional funds donated prior will be added for a total distribution of $4,800.
The Charitable Foundation will be distributing the available funds to food banks operated by Central PA Community Action in Clearfield, Curwensville, Philipsburg, Burnside/Mahaffey, Westover, Houtzdale, Osceola Mills, Karthaus, West Branch/Allport, and the DuBois Ministerium Food Pantry and DuBois Salvation Army. Additionally, funds will go to the Salvation Army in Clearfield, Living Bread Ministries, the Anti-Hunger Program operated by the Moshannon Valley YMCA that services communities in the Philipsburg-Osceola, West Branch and Moshannon Valley areas, the Central PA Food Bank and the Clearfield County Area Agency on Aging meal programs for their clients who are more homebound due to the COVID-19 crisis.
CCCF Executive Director Mark McCracken said “the Charitable Foundation Board recognized that now is a time when strong communities come together to help each other. On April 24th, the board authorized doing a short fundraising effort to collect funds to combine with existing monies in our Basic Needs Fund to do a special distribution to county food banks and anti-hunger programs. The Charitable Foundation thanks the people who donated to the effort. As our area moves to the green phase and people’s lives get back to normal, it is our hope these funds will help our community food banks restock their inventories so they can continue to help those who need it”.
The Clearfield County Charitable Foundation Board of Directors makes an annual distribution to area food banks and earlier this year released $3,900 before the COVID-19 crisis hit.
CCCF Board Chairman Kevin McMillen said “Even though we already released the annual food bank distribution, the board felt now was the time to step up and coordinate another distribution of funds to help our communities and families get through this difficult time”.
Posted: April 27, 2020 by Mark McCracken
Clearfield County Charitable Foundation Seeks Donations to Fight COVID-19 Impact
In response to the economic impacts communities and citizens across Clearfield County are facing from the COVID-19 crisis, the Clearfield County Charitable Foundation is planning a special round of funding to help meet these needs.
After surveying several local social service agencies to determine areas of need, the Charitable Foundation Board of Directors, during their recent board meeting, voted unanimously to release funding from their Basic Needs Fund to help communities throughout Clearfield County.
To accomplish the fund distribution with maximum impact, the Charitable Foundation is asking community members for donations, by May 15th, to the Basic Needs Fund.
Donations can be made online at www.clearfieldcharitablefoundation.org where you will see a DONATE NOW button on the main page that will direct your donation to the Basic Needs Fund via the CCCF secure PayPal account. Donations can also be made by mail to the Clearfield County Charitable Foundation, PO Box 1442, Clearfield PA 16830 and please write BASIC NEEDS FUND on the check memo line.
Funds raised by May 15th for the Basic Needs Fund will be combined with several recent special donations that were received with instructions from the donors to use their donations to help offset the impacts from the COVID-19 crisis.
Based on the aforementioned survey of needs, the Charitable Foundation is planning to direct funding to various food banks countywide that are operated by Central PA Community Action, the Salvation Army in both Clearfield and DuBois and the Living Bread Ministries. Funding was also approved for the Anti-Hunger Program operated by the Moshannon Valley YMCA that services communities in the Philipsburg-Osceola, West Branch and Moshannon Valley school districts.
Additional funding was approved for the Clearfield County Area Agency on Aging to provide frozen and weekend meal packs for their senior clients who are more homebound due to the COVID-19 crisis.
The Clearfield County Charitable Foundation Board of Directors makes an annual distribution to area food banks and released $3,900 in January before the COVID-19 crisis hit.
CCCF Board Chairman Kevin McMillen said “Even though we already released the annual food bank distribution, the board felt now was the time to step up and coordinate another distribution of funds to help our communities and families get through this difficult time”.
For more information on the Clearfield County Charitable Foundation, please visit our website at www.clearfieldcharitablefoundation.org or look up our Facebook page where information is shared about our various funds, scholarships, grant programs and ongoing projects.
Last Updated: March 21, 2020 by Mark McCracken
CCCF Gives Grant to Clearfield County Cancer Support Inc.
Clearfield County Cancer Support Inc receives grant from Clearfield County Charitable Foundation – Pictured – Mark McCracken CCCF Executive Director with Sonya Greene, Marie Kavelak and Mike Greene of Clearfield County Cancer Support Inc.
CLEARFIELD – Among the grants recently awarded by the Clearfield County Charitable Foundation is $1,000 to Clearfield County Cancer Support Inc. of Curwensville.
“The support offered by Clearfield County Cancer Support is important,” said CCCF Executive Director Mark McCracken.
“This is an idea brought to life by Sonya and Mike Greene because they lived through the process of battling cancer and saw, firsthand, what was missing in the community support system.
“This is the type of program the Clearfield County Charitable Foundation looks to support with our grant program because it assists people throughout Clearfield County in a time of great need”.
Founders Sonya and Mike Greene stated “we appreciate the $1,000 grant from the Clearfield County Charitable Foundation.We started Clearfield County Cancer Support, Inc. as a way to help and support individuals going through cancer treatment.
“There are other organizations dedicated to research and finding more effective treatment for the future, but our mission is helping individuals now, to get through the daily struggles they face while undergoing cancer treatment”.
Sonya Greene’s own cancer story began in 2014.
She was getting ready to start a new job on a Monday, but on the immediate Friday before, she had an appointment with her doctor where she received the devastating news that she had Stage 2 breast cancer. What was a time of exciting optimism for the new job immediately turned into a period of uncertainty and questions of what the future held, not only for Sonya, but for everyone close to her, especially her husband Mike.
Speaking with Sonya and Mike they will tell you that Sonya was able to fight and win her battle because they had a good health insurance plan that provided access to a great team of doctors and a treatment plan that was successful. But during the process, it also became obvious that undergoing many months of treatment and appointments upset other aspects of their daily lives. Transportation to medical appointments had to be arranged, personal funds designated for daily costs like utility bills, maintenance on the home, property taxes and other expenses had to be diverted to help deal with the health issues Sonya was dealing with.
When they inquired around to various agencies, they found there was nothing in Clearfield County that could provide direct assistance to cancer patients for issues that arose outside of the actual medical treatments.
After Sonya successfully completed her treatment, she and Mike turned their efforts and energy towards creating a program to help fill the void for cancer patients. In 2016, they founded Clearfield County Cancer Support, Inc. as a 501c3 nonprofit foundation to provide assistance and support to cancer patients so they can focus on their treatments rather than worrying about problems that spring up in daily life.
Mike stressed “there are some misconceptions that we are part of the American Cancer Society and/or Relay For Life, but we are a standalone organization. We operate strictly with volunteers and 95% of the funds we raise benefit cancer patients living in Clearfield County with the remaining funds going towards operational costs, money raised here stays here.
“We have several ongoing fundraisers including our annual golf tournament scheduled for May 23rd at Eagles Ridge, a Cash Bingo held every other month at the Curwensville VFW and new for 2020 we are joining Morris Twp. Volunteer Fire Department and Clearfield Moose in organizing the Snakefest Musicfest that will be held Saturday June 20th at the Morris Township Volunteer Fire Department Recreation Center in Morrisdale. We are also host a Basket Raffle at St. Timothy’s Rec Hall in Curwensville on July 26th, 2020”.
Mike also noted they have several businesses that have been giving ongoing support to the organization.
“Pennsylvania Grain Processing (Ethanol Plant) and Wal-Mart Distribution Center have been very generous in their support, Rob Brown of C. Classic (Dodge Chrysler Jeep) has been involved in supporting the annual golf tournament and Eagle Haven Computers designed, maintains and hosts our website”.
For more information on Clearfield County Cancer Support, Inc, please visit their website at www.clfdccs.org and for more information on the Clearfield County Charitable Foundation visit www.clearfieldcharitablefoundation.org.
Posted: February 26, 2020 by Mark McCracken
CCCF Distributes Funds for Local Food Banks
CCCF’s Board for support this year.
The Clearfield County Charitable Foundation Board of Directors recently approved a distribution of $3,900 in funding to area food banks.
Funding was provided to food pantries managed by Central Pennsylvania Community Action in the communities of Clearfield, Curwensville, Philipsburg, Burnside/Mahaffey, Houtzdale, Osceola Mills, Karthaus, West Branch/Allport and 2 DuBois locations – the DuBois Ministerium Food Pantry and emergency needs at the DuBois Salvation Army.
Funding was also provided to the Living Bread Ministries, which operates a location in the East End section of Clearfield, and the Clearfield Salvation Army for their food bank.
CCCF Executive Director Mark B. McCracken joined with Community Action Director of Operations and Finance Michelle Stiner to visit several food pantry locations.
During the visits McCracken noted “the community food pantries have become an important resource to help families in communities all across Clearfield County.
“The Clearfield County Charitable Foundation has a specific fund, the Basic Needs Fund, that is dedicated to supporting area food banks and this year the CCCF Board added an additional distribution for the Philipsburg Food Pantry to help people who utilize that location”.
The Clearfield County Charitable Foundation is working to enhance communities throughout Clearfield County through funding, grants and scholarship opportunities.
Anyone who would like to contribute to support future distributions to area food pantries can visit the CCCF website at www.clearfieldcharitablefoundation.org and donate online specifically to the Basic Needs Fund or send donations by mail to PO Box 1442, Clearfield PA 16830.
CCCF’s Executive Director Mark McCracken.
Mark McCracken – Executive Director.
Posted: February 19, 2020 by Mark McCracken
CCCF Grant Benefits Bison Outreach Project
Pictured, from left to right, are: Mark McCracken, executive director of the Clearfield County Charitable Foundation, Sherry Skidmore, grants administrator at Community Guidance Center, and Terry Struble, superintendent of Clearfield Area School District.
Feb. 18, 2020
CLEARFIELD – The Community Guidance Center recently received a grant from the Clearfield County Charitable Foundation for a collaborative project between the Clearfield Area Junior-Senior High School and Community Guidance Center’s Drug and Alcohol program.
The Bison Outreach Project involves student volunteers who will help distribute drug and alcohol treatment information at Bison sporting events.
“The Bison Outreach Project coordinated between the Community Guidance Center and the Clearfield Area School District is the exact type of project the Clearfield County Charitable Foundation looks to support with funding,” said Mark B. McCracken, the foundation’s executive director.
“It meets the goals of the Charitable Foundation to support projects that will better the community overall and, even more importantly, the involvement of young people in this positive project is what is needed to build our next generation of community leaders.”
For more information about the Drug and Alcohol program at Community Guidance Center, visit thecgc.com. To make an appointment or a referral, call 814-765-5337.
Last Updated: January 30, 2020 by Mark McCracken
Clearfield County Charitable Foundation Announces Plans For 2020
Names Executive Director, Announces Opening of Office
Jan. 13, 2020
As the Clearfield County Charitable Foundation approaches its 20th year of existence and a new decade begins, the board of directors of the foundation has been looking at ways to stimulate growth and identify new projects for the foundation to become involved in.
To attain this goal, in early 2019, the board of directors began searching for an executive director to run the operations of the foundation and a central location for an office for the foundation.
Foundation Board Chairman Kevin McMillen announced today the Clearfield County Charitable Foundation is appointing Mark B. McCracken to the position of Executive Director and, in the very near future, an office for the foundation will be opened in the former Sears building at the corner of Market and Third streets in Clearfield. The office space is being leased from Community Media Group, the parent company of The Progress.
McMillen stated “We are pleased to have Mark McCracken working for the Clearfield County Charitable Foundation. He recently completed 16 years serving as Clearfield County Commissioner and has experience working with communities and leaders throughout the county. He has past experience serving on area charitable and community agency boards including the Clearfield County Area Agency on Aging, Central Pennsylvania Community Action, Clearfield Area United Way and the former Clearfield Chapter of the American Red Cross”.
“Additionally Mark has served on many important regional and state level boards including the North Central Pennsylvania Regional Planning and Development Commission board, was twice appointed by Governor Tom Wolf to the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency (PEMA) 911 Advisory Committee and was a founding member of the Pennsylvania Counties Health Insurance Purchasing Cooperative (PCHIPC), where he served 10 years as chairman of the PCHIPC board”.
On accepting the position McCracken said “This is an exciting opportunity and I look forward to continuing the work the original founders of the Clearfield County Charitable Foundation started almost 20 years ago. The current board of directors have put a great amount of time and effort into growing the foundation in recent years and I want to build on that success. I am also looking forward to working with the people who have established individual funds managed by the foundation. My foremost goal is to recruit new involvement and grow all the funds so communities and individuals throughout Clearfield County can see benefits and positive results”.
The Clearfield County Charitable Foundation was formed on November 4, 2001, starting with one fund valued at $10,000 and has now grown to 46 active funds totaling almost $7 million in value as of December 31st, 2019. Through scholarships and grants, the Clearfield County Charitable Foundation is working to enhance the quality of living in communities all over Clearfield County. Since 2006, the CCCF grant program alone has awarded over $102,900 to 74 different groups in Clearfield County.
You can learn more about the Clearfield County Charitable Foundation by visiting their website at www. clearfieldcharitablefoundation.org.
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