The Community Foundation is monitoring the local situation closely, and are in contact with many community-leading and community-serving organizations about the most effective ways to support our residents.
In an effort to support our most vulnerable families in their time of need, the Lancaster County Community Foundation and the United Way of Lancaster County are working together to respond. We’ve mobilized a task force of key social service organizations and we’ve developed a plan that will get much needed support and resources effectively and efficiently to Lancaster County families in need through those organizations.
We’ve created a fund that we call Lancaster Cares. The fund is hyper-focused on the most basic needs of Food, Housing, and Rapid Response to Emerging Needs. The Community Foundation has made a lead gift of $250,000 to seed this much needed effort. We invite you to visit and contribute what you can. Together, through trusted local organizations, we can get resources to those in critical need. And, together, we will pull through this crisis and strengthen our community for tomorrow.
The pandemic has changed so much about the way we communicate and connect in fundamental ways. With the increased digitization of human contact, it's made receiving mail a rare treat for so many of us. And, around this time each year, the Community Foundation receives just about the best mail you could hope for: dozens of thank you letters from students who are part of the Pennsylvania Future Farmers of America.
Recently we got the honor to celebrate the Baldwin Leaders extraordinary work and hear all the extraordinary things they did since the start of the program. Hear from them about their projects.
Over the month of February, In Good Company-- a joint initiative with the Community Foundation, ASSETS, and the Lancaster Chamber hosted a series of digital conversations to with local business leaders to discuss how we can best learn from each other, build collective understanding, and use business as a force for good in our community.
We are fortunate to have extraordinary organizations working to keep our community engaged and informed throughout this epidemic. Check out local resources to stay up to date on developments:
In times like these, it’s important to treat mental health as seriously as physical health. Whether you’re practicing social distancing or required to work in the field, be sure to check in with yourself and your team. This will be a marathon, not a sprint, and we may have a while to go. The Community Foundation team is working hard to check in with each other and share resources for relaxation, de-stress, and ways to keep developing. Here are some of the things we’re doing:
We are fully remote as an organization currently but we are responding to emails. If you have questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to a member of our team!
