Use the email template at the bottom of this post to introduce the Community Foundation to your professional advisors!
The Community Foundation is honored to work with many individuals, families, and businesses who support the causes they love. Their charitable contributions help make Berks County a better place to live. Trusted professional advisors, including attorneys, CPAs, and financial advisors, help donors make important decisions about taxes, investments, estate planning, and family wealth.
All of this is wonderful! There’s one more step to philanthropy, however, that is sometimes overlooked: connecting the dots. But what does ‘connecting the dots’ mean? If you are a donor or fund holder at Berks County Community Foundation, or plan to establish a fund, please consider introducing your advisors to the foundation team. A simple introduction can make a tremendous difference in achieving your charitable goals.
How connecting the dots can help:
- Attorneys, CPAs, and wealth managers are experts in many aspects of financial and estate planning. Their work is essential in helping you develop and implement strategies through legal documentation, tax filings, and other technical guidance. Not all advisors, however, are experts in charitable giving.
- The Community Foundation brings to the table specialized knowledge about local philanthropy. This knowledge can include charitable giving strategies, local nonprofit needs, philanthropic tools that may be best suited for your situation. This knowledge can also inform the types of assets you might consider giving to achieve your goals.
- The Community Foundation also stays current on legal, tax, and charitable developments. In turn, we can keep you and your advisors informed about which trends to watch.
- When you establish a fund at the Community Foundation, our team will handle the paperwork and administration. We will manage and distribute the fund to meet your charitable intent. This is often a relief to your advisors and to you!
Collaborative conversations among donors, professional advisors, and the Community Foundation are not reserved for ultra-high-net-worth families. Even straightforward charitable plans can benefit from collaboration between your advisors and the Community Foundation. In many cases, donors discover giving opportunities they might not otherwise have considered. What’s more is that many advisors appreciate the philanthropic specialists who explore strategies that benefit both the donor and the causes they love.
What can you do? A simple email introducing your advisors to the Community Foundation team opens the door to better communication and stronger planning. The Community Foundation is always happy to have a conversation with you and your advisors, and an introduction is critical. Click the button below to access an email template and get the conversation started!
When professionals work together, the result is often more coordinated and impactful. By connecting your advisors with the Community Foundation, you help create a team that can support both your financial goals and your desire to make a lasting difference. We look forward to hearing from you—and meeting your advisors! Thank you for all you do to make our community a better place.
READING, PA (June 4, 2026) – The Innovation Fund of Berks County Community Foundation recently awarded $101,956 to local organizations for projects that will improve environmental health across Berks County. Funded projects include small-scale construction, such as community gardens, educational programs, large-scale planning efforts, and more.
The following projects received funding from the Innovation Fund:
- $8,000 to Berks Agricultural Resource Network for the 2026 Urban Agriculture Bus Tour.
- $8,000 to the Berks County Earth Day Committee of Berks Recycling Coalition for the annual Berks Earth Day event.
- $13,046 to Berks Nature for Cultivating Community: A Garden Initiative.
- $13,860 to Berks Nature for a municipal outreach initiative supporting open space protection, native plant communities, and stormwater best management practices.
- $9,050 to Blue Mountain Eagle Climbing Club and Wildness Park for a forest stewardship plan.
- $10,000 to GoggleWorks Center for the Arts for GoggleWorks Gardens at Laurel Park.
- $15,000 to Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful for a Spanish-language environmental outreach campaign.
- $15,000 to Student Conservation Association for the 2027 Reading Conservation Corps, which will recruit, hire, and train young adults to complete conservation projects across the county while gaining job skills and certifications.
- $10,000 to Widoktadwen Center for Native Knowledge for Adventure Summer Camp, making camp possible for 25 children who might not otherwise be able to attend. The seven-week, inclusive, nature-based program centers on the Seven Grandfather Teachings of Anishinaabe tradition: Love, Respect, Bravery, Humility, Wisdom, Honesty, and Truth.
“The Innovation Fund supports creative projects that can make a meaningful impact,” said Emily Smedley, Environment and Energy Program Officer for Berks County Community Foundation. “Environmental health affects everyone. We all have a role to play and can become responsible stewards of our beautiful, biodiverse region.”
To learn more about The Innovation Fund, visit https://bccf.org/funds/the-innovation-fund/.
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Berks County Community Foundation is a nonprofit corporation that serves as a civic leader for our region by developing, managing and distributing charitable funds aimed at improving the quality of life in Berks County.
Have a question about this fund?
Email Emily Smedley, Environment & Energy Program Officer
The word “philanthropy” comes from Greek roots, meaning, quite simply, a love of humanity.
Philanthropy is a big word—but at its heart, it reflects something very personal: the desire to help others, strengthen community, and make a difference in ways that matter to you.
For some people, philanthropy means supporting a favorite nonprofit year after year. For others, it means volunteering time, responding to urgent needs, or thinking carefully about how to create lasting change. However it shows up, philanthropy is not one-size-fits-all. It’s as unique as the people behind it.
That’s where the Community Foundation comes in.
At the foundation, we believe that everyone’s philanthropic instinct looks different, from person to person. Our role is to help you discover, shape, and act on that instinct in a way that reflects your values, your experiences, and your goals. Whether you already have a clear vision or are just beginning to explore what matters most, we’re here to help you connect the dots.
How exactly does this work? What does it look like in real life to get started with the Community Foundation?
Often, the starting point is simply having a conversation. Here’s what you can expect during your first meeting with a member of the team.
We’ll review your favorite charities.
Together, we’ll take a look at a list of the charities you already support and review each organization to uncover the reasons you love and support each one. This is a crucial starting point because the Community Foundation is here to help you make the most of what you are already doing and then build on that to discover how you can get even more involved.
We’ll chat about your story.
We enjoy hearing from our donors about the experiences that have shaped their lives. As we begin this part of our conversation, we’ll explore questions that help unlock where your charitable passions may lie and why. What challenges have you or your loved ones faced? What opportunities made a difference for you? Often, the causes we care about most are connected to our own journeys. Reflecting on these moments can help clarify where you feel most motivated to give.
We’ll talk about what’s going on in our community.
Which local issues capture your attention or spark a strong emotional response? It might be something you read in the news, a local initiative you hear about, or a cause a friend supports. These moments are often clues pointing toward what matters most to you. The foundation can help provide context for these issues and share information about which organizations are directly addressing the local challenges that top your list.
We’ll connect with your advisors about structure.
As your charitable purposes come into focus, we would welcome the opportunity to join you for a meeting with your estate planning and tax advisors, or even provide information you can share with your advisors about charitable giving structures that might help you achieve your goals. Whether your charitable goals are best served via a donor-advised fund, unrestricted fund, legacy gift, IRA beneficiary designation, or anything in between, the Community Foundation can help implement your charitable intentions in ways that your advisors recommend are best aligned with the rest of your financial plan.
As we take these steps together, remember that you don’t have to have all the answers right away. Philanthropy is a journey, not a destination. Whether you’re ready to establish a fund, looking to deepen your involvement, or simply beginning to think about how you want to give back, the Community Foundation is here to help. Together, we can turn your love of humanity into meaningful, lasting impact—right here in the community we share.
READING, PA (May 11, 2026) – Power of the Purse (POP) in Berks County Fund of Berks County Community Foundation awards grants to programs that break the cycle of poverty by eliminating or addressing barriers for Berks County girls and/or women who want to enter or re-enter the workforce or seek the education they need to do so. The fund’s committee is a women’s giving circle. Members conduct site visits to the nonprofits and organizations that have applied for POP funding.
In May 2026, POP in Berks County approved $73,000 to the following eight nonprofits and organizations:
- Literacy Council
- Hannah’s Hope
- Hope Rescue Mission
- John Paul II Center for Special Learning
- Connections Work
- Helping Harvest
- Opportunity House
- Planned Parenthood Keystone
“Women’s giving circles are an easy way to maximize the giving power of individuals,” says Cindy Milian, Health and Human Services Program Officer of Berks County Community Foundation. “POP in Berks County invests in the futures of local girls and women because the committee understands how pivotal those individuals are in inspiring change and shaping the future of our region.”
Power of the Purse (POP) Fund was established at Berks County Community Foundation in 2012. For more information on POP or establishing your own fund with the Community Foundation, email Molly McCullough Robbins, Vice President for Philanthropic Services, at mollyr@bccf.org.
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Berks County Community Foundation is a nonprofit corporation that serves as a civic leader for our region by developing, managing and distributing charitable funds aimed at improving the quality of life in Berks County.
Many people are not fully aware of the extent to which charitable organizations shape everyday life in our communities.
From social services to education, healthcare, and the arts, nonprofits touch nearly every aspect of quality of life. Americans give hundreds of billions of dollars to charity each year, supporting roughly 1.9 million organizations nationwide. These organizations often become even more essential during periods of economic uncertainty, when demand for services tends to rise just as resources can feel more constrained.
That dynamic is especially relevant as many are watching the markets closely this spring. Even the possibility of a downturn can influence financial decisions, including charitable giving. It is natural to feel more cautious. At the same time, history shows that community needs often increase during challenging economic periods—making it all the more important to stay engaged in philanthropy.
As you think about your charitable giving this year, this may be a good moment to step back and consider not only where you give, but also how you structure your giving for long-term impact. In particular, it is important for donors and fund holders to consider expanding their portfolio of giving to include giving to the Community Foundation itself. This can take several forms, each of which plays a meaningful role.
Unrestricted giving
Some donors choose to support the Community Foundation’s grantmaking and initiatives across generations. This type of support helps ensure that the foundation can continue serving as a trusted resource—connecting donors to causes, responding to emerging needs, and stewarding charitable funds with care and expertise well into the future. It is an investment not only in today’s giving, but also in the long-term strength of the philanthropic infrastructure in our community.
Support for existing funds
Other donors focus on increasing the Community Foundation’s grantmaking resources so that more money can flow from the Community Foundation to nonprofits that are helping those in need, especially when times are tough. Contributions to unrestricted or broadly focused funds allow the foundation’s program team to respond quickly and thoughtfully to the most pressing challenges facing our region. During periods of economic strain, this flexibility can be especially powerful, enabling support to reach the people and organizations that need it most, at the moment it matters most.
A hybrid approach
In many cases, donors adopt a dual strategy—continuing to support favorite organizations directly or through the Community Foundation’s grant programs while also allocating a portion of their giving to the Community Foundation itself or by establishing a new fund of your own. This approach can help balance personal philanthropic interests with broader community impact, creating a more resilient and adaptable giving strategy.
The Community Foundation’s unique role is what makes any or all of these approaches so effective. As a perpetual institution governed by a local board of directors, Berks County Community Foundation is designed to serve the community not just today, but across generations. Our team maintains deep knowledge of local needs, works closely with nonprofit partners, and is positioned to deploy resources where they can do the greatest good over time.
Especially in moments when the future feels uncertain, expanding your portfolio of giving in this way can provide an added layer of confidence. You can continue supporting the causes you care about while also strengthening the Community Foundation’s ability to lead, respond, and make a difference—now and in the years ahead.
We are honored to work alongside you as you consider how your philanthropy can support both immediate needs and lasting impact for our entire community.
Where the foundation’s team of experts convene with local leaders, volunteers, and change-makers to share the good work being done across Berks County.
Sparking Change: The Official Podcast of Berks County Community Foundation, is available to stream anywhere you listen to podcasts, including YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcast, Amazon Music, and more! Can’t find Sparking Change on your preferred podcast streaming platform? Reach out.
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Berks County Community Foundation, in partnership with Northern Berks Connects (formerly the Hamburg Area School District Initiative), invites proposals from schools, and nonprofit entities to support a one-year pilot program.
The selected organization will provide and oversee staff responsible for developing and maintaining a localized resource guide for the Hamburg area and its surrounding municipalities, coordinating community networking events, and supporting collaboration among community leaders. This initiative seeks to improve access to essential resources for basic human needs – including food & water, shelter & housing, health & medical resources, transportation services and safety & security issues.
Applicants are expected to demonstrate the capacity to carry out the following activities:
- Coordinate, plan, and host two to three (2–3) Northern Berks Connects networking events annually.
- Collaborate with the Northern Berks Connects Steering Committee to respond to identified community needs.
- Create and maintain a Northern Berks Connects website and localized digital and printed resource guide.
- Regularly update and maintain the web-based and printable resource guide.
- Distribute resource information to participants in Northern Berks Connects.
- Explore strategies to support the sustainability of the initiative over the next two to three years.
Visit the foundation’s Grant Application Portal or click below to submit your organization’s proposal now.
Before submitting an application, review the Community Foundation’s grantee standards on the website.
Questions? Reach out!
Email your questions to Cindy Milian, Health and Human Services Program Officer of Berks County Community Foundation at cindym@bccf.org.
Most of us can think of something we fully intend to do—someday. Organize the photos. Update the estate plan. Schedule the family meeting. Reboot the exercise routine. Charitable planning often falls into that same category.
We hear from many generous people who care deeply about their community and fully intend to “do more” with their philanthropy. But life is busy. The calendar fills up. Markets fluctuate. Family and business priorities shift. It can feel easier to wait for the perfect moment—when things feel calmer, clearer, or more certain.
If that sounds familiar, you are not alone. And it is not a sign of indifference. More often, it reflects uncertainty.
You may wonder:
- –Am I giving to the right organizations?
- –Am I committing too much too soon?
- –What if my priorities change?
- –What if I want to involve my children later?
When every decision feels permanent, it is natural to pause. The Community Foundation can help you shift gears from intention to action. Here are three principles that guide our work with donors in this situation:
Take it one step at a time.
One of the most helpful mental shifts is to think of charitable planning as a multi-step process rather than a single, all-or-nothing decision. In many cases, a tax planning need takes precedence because of concrete deadlines and tax year considerations. Our team understands!
Keep it simple.
Sometimes the hardest part of giving is not generosity—it is decision fatigue. You might be asking yourself, “Where should I give?” Often, that’s not the best question to ask right out of the gate, especially if you are new to philanthropy. The team at the Community Foundation can help you work through key threshold questions including:
- –As I look back on my charitable giving, what areas of focus seem to jump out?
- –What specific charities have I supported over the years?
- –Why have I supported those charities?
- –Is there anything about my areas of focus that I’d like to change going forward?
As we explore these questions together, our team can provide research on local nonprofits, share insights about community needs, and facilitate family conversations about values and priorities.
Adopt long-term thinking.
Community change does not happen overnight. You may find that your charitable intentions include not only providing annual support to favorite charities but also making a meaningful difference over many years or even many decades that extend well beyond your lifetime.
The team at the Community Foundation can help you structure not only a donor-advised fund to help organize your annual giving, but also other types of funds and a legacy plan. Some families, for example, establish a field-of-interest fund to support a particular cause with built-in flexibility as community needs change. Similarly, a designated fund can provide long-term support to specific organizations, and an unrestricted fund allows you to leverage the Community Foundation’s deep expertise and perpetual structure to address emerging community priorities for generations to come. You can name one or more of these funds as a beneficiary in your estate plan, whether through a gift in your will or trust or through a beneficiary designation on an IRA.
The bottom line is that the Community Foundation is here for you along your entire charitable giving journey. We’ll work together to build and implement your philanthropy plan brick by brick over the years to come, involving your tax advisors and family members at key junctures and always ensuring that your charitable intentions—even as they evolve over time—are fulfilled.
The Met-Ed/Penelec Sustainable Energy Fund will make grants to fund a variety of energy efficiency projects to nonprofits, government entities, and small-businesses within the Met-Ed and Penelec utility areas. Funding is only available to existing buildings (not new construction) and to organizations that own their buildings (not lease). A preliminary energy assessment must be completed to be considered for funding. If you have not had an energy assessment completed, contact fund staff to be connected with technical assistance.
There is $500,000 available per utility area ($1,000,000 total). Grants will typically range from $25,000 to $100,000.
Eligible projects include:
- Replacement of existing lighting with more energy-efficient lighting (more information here)
- Installation of high-efficiency HVAC projects (more information here)
- Installation of commercial kitchen and refrigeration improvements (more information here)
Process timeline:
- LOIs open April 15; Due May 15. See note below for details.
- Announcement of invitation to submit an application by May 30
- Application opens on June 1; Due July 15
- Funding decisions announced by September 30
Note: The LOI form is available online. Projects in the Met-Ed territory should fill out the form in Berks County Community Foundation’s grant portal. Projects in the Penelec territory should fill out the form in the Community Foundation for the Alleghenies’ grant portal. If invited to submit an application, applications will also be available in each grant portal.
An advisory board will review the applications and decide which projects will receive grant funding.
Contact information
In the Met-Ed rate district, please contact Emily Smedley:
Environment and Energy Program Officer, Berks County Community Foundation
Fund Manager, Met-Ed Sustainable Energy Fund
Emilys@bccf.org
In the Penelec rate district, please contact Mark Keim:
Program Officer, Community Foundation for the Alleghenies
Fund Manager, Penelec Sustainable Energy Fund
mkeim@cfalleghenies.org
In late 2025, the program and communication teams of Berks County Community Foundation spent two days in the Kutztown area. There, they visited local institutions that contribute to the area’s vitality.
The foundation conducts these site visits to gain knowledge about the communities we serve. Some institutions have received gifts from various funds the foundation manages. Other institutions simply enrich the cultural, educational, or religious life of the county.
This blog post is part two of a two-part series on the Kutztown tour. Read part one, available here.
The second half of the Kutztown site visit started one cold November morning at Crystal Cave, one of the oldest tourist landmarks in Berks County. Discovered on November 12, 1871, our team toured the first “show cave” in Pennsylvania on the 154th anniversary of the cave’s discovery.
The cave was discovered by William Merkel and John Gehret while they were blasting for limestone. After the smoke cleared, the pair descended 125 feet into damp, underground darkness. Although the pair didn’t come to purchase the cave, their initials are etched into one of the cave’s rock formations. With some formations aging more than half a million years old, it is safe to say that Merkel and Gehret’s legacies will endure for generations to come.
Human influence—and intrusion—are common traits in Crystal Cave’s history as a “show cave”. Immediately after Merkel and Gehret’s discovery, Berks County residents began to brave the impenetrable darkness of the cave, in search of souvenirs. Frustrated with the damage, Samuel D. F. Kohler bought the cave, built an official entrance, and started charging guests 25 cents for admission.
The ancient appeal of Crystal Cave brought tourists from all over the country, which ushered in a time of economic growth for Kohler. Improvements were made inside the cave for safety purposes, a hotel was built for guests, and a stagecoach was purchased to expand access across the region.
As business expanded, the Kohler family tested the limits of the cave. Hoedowns, weddings, and baptisms took place in the “Crystal Cave Ballroom”, complete with a bar for liquor, live band, and dance floor. Amid renovations and celebrations, David Kohler (son of Samuel) sold Crytal Cave to J. Douglas Kaufman.
In more recent years, Crystal Cave, Inc. has adapted as an attraction that celebrates nature and educates visitors on the fragility of the cave’s rock formations. When touring the cave, guests are asked to not touch the rock formations, as human touch can interfere with their growth—a big change from the days of removing crystals from the cave as a souvenir.
Now, Crystal Cave attracts the public through their scenic hiking trails, educational group tours, historical museum and much more.
To learn more about Crystal Cave or plan your next excursion, visit Crystal Cave’s website.
The next stop on our tour of Kutztown was to Kutztown University, where the Indigenous Showcase with the Council of Three Rivers American Indian Center participated in a cultural exchange of music, food, dance and literature.
The Council of Three Rivers American Indian Center is a nonprofit whose mission is to promote the socio-economic development of the Native American community and others who experience similar types of economic difficulties in the Greater Pittsburg metropolitan area.
The tribes most associated with Berks County include the Susquehannock, Lenape, and Iroquois peoples. Today, only 1.4% of Berks County’s population identifies as an American Native. The impact of native lives, however, can be found all over the county: what we now know as Maxatawny, Neversink, Saucony, and Tulpehocken were once Machksithanne, Navesink, Saconk, and Tulpewahaki, respectively.
The second day of our Kutztown tour concluded with a brief visit to shops along Main Street and the surrounding Kutztown area. Find the list of shops the foundation team visited below:
- Casa de Empanada
- Saucony Creek Brewing Company
- Sorrelli Jewelry
- Kutztown Tavern
- Young Ones Records
- Paisley & Company
- Dietrich’s Meta’s and Country Store
- Firefly Bookstore
Interested in having the foundation visit your nonprofit or organization? Reach out!
