It’s been my sincere pleasure to serve as the Chairman of the Board for the Greater Worcester Community foundation for the past 3 years. Serving alongside my fellow board members, Ann and the staff, the corporators and volunteers has been a distinct honor.
It’s been my sincere pleasure to serve as the Chairman of the Board for the Greater Worcester Community Foundation for the past 3 years. Serving alongside my fellow board members, Ann and the staff, the corporators and volunteers has been a distinct honor.
As I transition leadership to Gerry Gates at this year’s annual meeting, I’m reminded of how a powerful concept has helped tens of thousands of people in our community. In 1975, a group of committed community leaders concluded that a pooled endowment would provide a considerable, long-term resource for caring for the community's needs; and for 40 years the Foundation has been just that.
Using the power of compounding interest where we not only received earnings on the initial investments but also on the prior interest added to the investment, the fund grows exponentially over time. This enables the Foundation to increase the impact of donors’ philanthropy for our greater Worcester community.
I’ve been lucky during my tenure to see our growth reach an asset level of more than $140 million, while the total grants given out of the past 40+ years just crossed over the $100 million mark: an exciting time indeed.
We’re now entering a time when early childhood becomes a focus of the Foundation in an effort to help the community for the long term. Early childhood investments are a proven driver of economic prosperity and long-term community success. I’m proud that this board and our donors have the vision to put those forward-thinking ideas into motion. Our Foundation’s unique ability to increase philanthropy for Worcester is a great treasure indeed.
Lee Gaudette, former Chairman of the Board for the Greater Worcester Community Foundation
