NEWS 2020
Greater Pike Fund Advisors Highlight Charitable Giving
December 29, 2020
“Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.” Those words from Helen Keller underscore the benefit of charitable giving in a community. Greater Pike Community Foundation is pleased to highlight end-of-year giving from the Petersheim Fund and The Kontizas Fund. Greater Pike Executive Director Jenni Hamill noted, “From these two donor-advised funds, eight nonprofit organizations received a total of $10,500. A donor-advised fund is a perfect way to make an end-of-year gift.”
The Petersheim Fund, established by Chuck Petersheim, supports local entities across the nonprofit, religious, and community-building spectrum. Gifts were made this year to A Single Bite Fund of the Community Foundation of Orange and Sullivan, Ecumenical Food Pantry of Pike County, Farm Arts Collective, GAIT Therapeutic Riding Center, and the Kyle J. Pascoe Memorial Scholarship Fund of Greater Pike.
Chuck Petersheim said he selected organizations that he knows first-hand are run by “dedicated hard-working people with stamina” and “have a commitment that’s hard to deny.” This is Petersheim’s third year of gifting from his fund at Greater Pike. “When I gave on my own, it felt like another bill as opposed to being in a community of giving.” Petersheim, who designs and builds homes inspired by Americana architecture, has donated more than $150,000 over the last 15 years—but he said giving through Greater Pike “is the perfect conduit…It’s not just a check.”
Karen Kontizas selected the Ecumenical Food Pantry of Pike County, Pike County Humane Society, and PEEC for gifts from The Kontizas Fund. The fund supports a wide range of nonprofits, three of which include Good Shepherd Episcopal Church in Milford, animal welfare, and environmental stewardship/education.
The Kontizas Fund was created in 2018, in memory of Karen’s husband, Tom, a firefighter who died that year from a 911-related illness. Initial donations totaled $10,000 for which Kontizas said she greatly appreciates. With her help and that of generous donors, the fund continues to grow. “The money is being used to help great organizations,” Kontizas said. Like Chuck Petersheim, Karen Kontizas is personally familiar with the work of the nonprofits her fund was able to help. “The animal shelter is close to my heart, as it was to Tom’s; PEEC does great things for young people and for nature, and the volunteers at the Good Shepherd food pantry work their hearts out,” she explained. Kontizas also gave a nod to the help from Greater Pike Community Foundation staff and board, whom she said “were amazing. They all have their hearts in really good places.” No one can argue that both Chuck Petersheim and Karen Kontizas have their hearts in really good places, too.
Online donations can be made using the following links: Petersheim Fund and The Kontizas Fund.
Greater Pike Community Foundation helps individuals, families, and local businesses provide a permanent and personal way to give back to the community. For more information contact Jenni Hamill, Executive Director, at (570) 832-4686, or jennihamill@greaterpike.org, or visit www.greaterpike.org or Facebook.
