Key Takeaways
- • The Yates Community Endowment has distributed more than $1 million to nonprofits serving Yates County over 15 years, according to Fingerlakes1.com.
- • The endowment's 2026 grantmaking directed $139,000 to 18 organizations.
- • The fund is administered with staff support from the Rochester Area Community Foundation and volunteer review of applications.
- • The endowment was seeded in 2011 with a $100,000 challenge grant from the Nord Family Foundation of Amherst, Ohio, and raised $177,000 after 2014 flash floods.
Summary
The Yates Community Endowment has distributed more than $1 million to nonprofit organizations serving Yates County over 15 years, according to an October 28, 2026 announcement reported by Fingerlakes1.com. Its 2026 grantmaking directed $139,000 to 18 organizations. The permanent endowment supports education, child care, young people and families, arts and culture, and access to food.
Residents volunteer to review applications and guide the fund's priorities, while the Rochester Area Community Foundation provides staff support and other resources. A volunteer advisory committee works with the Community Foundation to direct money toward local needs and gaps in services. Nancy Rees, who chairs the advisory committee, credited the county's nonprofits with carrying out the work the endowment helps fund. The grantmaking has two broad priorities: meeting basic needs such as housing, food, utilities and health, and supporting programs that help people thrive. A 2025 Community Foundation assessment found that families with children and older adults had the greatest need for support in the county.
Among the organizations the fund has supported are Milly's Pantry, Yates Community Center, Pennsylvania Yankee Theatre Company and the YMCA, whose grants help local young people attend Camp Cory. Beyond grants, Community Foundation staff and volunteers analyze local needs, connect nonprofits with other funding sources and convene organizations around shared problems. They helped launch the Yates Food Access Coalition with Cornell Cooperative Extension of Yates County and Yates County Public Health to strengthen the emergency food network after SNAP benefits paused in late 2025. Sara Bukowiec, the Community Foundation's director of rural community impact, said the endowment's history reflects sustained contributions from local volunteers and donors.
The endowment grew from a 2010 conversation between Penn Yan resident Katie Nord Pederson and the Rochester Area Community Foundation. In 2011, the Nord Family Foundation of Amherst, Ohio, helped establish the fund with a $100,000 challenge grant that matched contributions dollar for dollar. After flash floods damaged homes, businesses and roads in 2014, the fund raised $177,000 in a few months. In 2020 it established the Yates Emergency Relief Fund to support nonprofits during the COVID-19 pandemic. Rees said the partnership helped organizations respond quickly to crises while sustaining regular grantmaking, adding: "It's not our normal mode, but it shows how flexible we can be to respond to abnormal things."
Residents volunteer to review applications and guide the fund's priorities, while the Rochester Area Community Foundation provides staff support and other resources. A volunteer advisory committee works with the Community Foundation to direct money toward local needs and gaps in services. Nancy Rees, who chairs the advisory committee, credited the county's nonprofits with carrying out the work the endowment helps fund. The grantmaking has two broad priorities: meeting basic needs such as housing, food, utilities and health, and supporting programs that help people thrive. A 2025 Community Foundation assessment found that families with children and older adults had the greatest need for support in the county.
Among the organizations the fund has supported are Milly's Pantry, Yates Community Center, Pennsylvania Yankee Theatre Company and the YMCA, whose grants help local young people attend Camp Cory. Beyond grants, Community Foundation staff and volunteers analyze local needs, connect nonprofits with other funding sources and convene organizations around shared problems. They helped launch the Yates Food Access Coalition with Cornell Cooperative Extension of Yates County and Yates County Public Health to strengthen the emergency food network after SNAP benefits paused in late 2025. Sara Bukowiec, the Community Foundation's director of rural community impact, said the endowment's history reflects sustained contributions from local volunteers and donors.
The endowment grew from a 2010 conversation between Penn Yan resident Katie Nord Pederson and the Rochester Area Community Foundation. In 2011, the Nord Family Foundation of Amherst, Ohio, helped establish the fund with a $100,000 challenge grant that matched contributions dollar for dollar. After flash floods damaged homes, businesses and roads in 2014, the fund raised $177,000 in a few months. In 2020 it established the Yates Emergency Relief Fund to support nonprofits during the COVID-19 pandemic. Rees said the partnership helped organizations respond quickly to crises while sustaining regular grantmaking, adding: "It's not our normal mode, but it shows how flexible we can be to respond to abnormal things."
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