WCF History

Connecting People Who Care With Causes That Matter Since 1999

1999—FOUNDING—February 1—The Greater Williamsburg Community Trust was formed. Founding Trustees: Bobbye B. Alexander, James Baker, Robert Cornelius (Vice President), Mary Lee Darling, Vernon “Bud” Geddy, Jr., John Jamison (Secretary/Treasurer), James Kelly, Trist McConnell (President), Joseph Montgomery and Roger Thaler.

The Trust announced its launch with a million-dollar challenge from Jim Ukrop of Ukrop’s Super Markets.

Proceeds from the 300^th Anniversary Gala of the City of Williamsburg, an event chaired by Mary Humelsine, and a fundraising dinner presented by John Curtis at The Trellis, are used to create the Community Endowment, the Foundation’s permanent grantmaking fund in December 1999.

2002—FIRST GRANTS First five grants totaling $5,000 are awarded by the Distribution Committee

2004—FIRST STAFF Nancy Sullivan and Marge Gonyea hired as first staff. The Trust moved into donated office space behind the Food Lion. 5^th Anniversary Gala raised $31,000 for the Community Endowment. Dan & Ingrid Jones became founding members of the Legacy Society when they pledged a gift in their estate plan to the Trust.

2005—FIRST AWARD CEREMONY WCF held its first grant award ceremony in August. $7,350 was presented to eight organizations at the event. At that point, over $1 million in grants had been awarded over six years.

2006—THE CHALLENGE $300,000 challenge from former chair, John Jamison, the “Chairman’s Challenge,” kicked off a campaign to raise funds for the Community Endowment.

2007—A NEW NAME The “Trust” became the Williamsburg Community Foundation to better align with the community foundation field.

2008—FIRST BEQUEST The first bequest, from the estate of Benjamin Altshuler for $1.2 million, made a major impact on transportation and amateur sports. We all learned about singlets. Van Ruckman joined as WCF’s volunteer Webmaster and is still with us today.

2009—100 FUNDS Surpassed 100 named funds established. 10^th Anniversary Gala raised $95,000 for WCF and set the bar high with a professional dance duo. Williamsburg-James City County Community Scholarship Fund merged with the Foundation and the Scholarship Endowment Fund was created.

2011—A NEW HOME WCF moves into the little green house on Scottland Street. The parking was great, the roaches were friendly.

2012—PERRY SCHOLARSHIPS Donald Perry Foundation ($500,000 private foundation) was transferred to WCF to establish a statewide scholarship fund.

2013—FIRST SCHOLARSHIP AWARD CEREMONY WCF presented $51,500 at its first Scholarship Award Ceremony at Bruton Heights. $81,262 was awarded at the Spring & Fall grant luncheons.

2014—WCF 15^TH ANNIVERSARY. Received a donation of three office condos from Bobby and Hope Beck. This gift provided a home and a source of income for WCF over the last ten years. 15^th Anniversary Gala provided over $90,000 for the Community Endowment.

2015—VISION 2020 WCF campaign began with the creation of the Arts & Culture, Children & Young Adults, Environment & Conservation, Health & Community Wellness, and Senior Services Endowment Funds to support its grantmaking work.

2019—20^TH ANNIVERSARY. Jenny Wible (2018), Bihin Perisie & Gwendolyn Sawyer estate gifts have a major impact on the growth of WCF assets. Five Year Strategic Plan included a goal of representing all members of the community by engaging diverse individuals and groups in the work of the Foundation.

2020—PIVOT The Covid Pandemic leads to the creation of the Community Emergency Response Fund and the Greater Williamsburg Small Business Relief Fund. Over $800,000 in grants to support local residents were distributed from March 2020 to March 2022. The Diversity Workgroup developed a diversity plan for WCF while meeting on Zoom.

2021—RECOVERY & CHANGE WCF Ambassador Program created to bring current and past Board and Committee Members together for educational and social purposes. Grant programs restructured to better serve our community.

2022—IMPLEMENTATION Established a position of Program Officer to implement changes and Ginny Gasink moved into that role.

2023—TODAY WCF staff and board are learning about Local Impact Investing. Diversity efforts have resulted in a shift in more grants to minority led nonprofits. Scholarships are being provided to a more diverse and larger group of students. New Capacity Building grant opportunity added to help smaller nonprofits.