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The Community Foundation of the Northern Shenandoah Valley (CFNSV) held its annual Community Philanthropy Day luncheon on Wednesday, where it announced the distribution of $100,000 in grants to charitable causes.

“This year’s been great,” Erik Beatley, board president of the nonprofit foundation based at 107 Youth Development Court in Winchester, said at the start of last week’s celebration at Shenandoah Valley Westminster-Canterbury. “We’ve grown to 147 funds … and our current endowment is $17.6 million.”

Those figures represent remarkable growth. The CFNSV was founded in 2001 by local Rotary Club members who wanted to establish a pooled endowment fund for donors to support causes and organizations of their choice, with a particular focus on Winchester and the counties of Frederick, Clarke and Warren. That endowment grew at a very slow pace, though, reaching just $1.6 million by Jan. 1, 2017.

But 2017 was a turnaround year for the foundation. For the first time, it was able to lease office space for its then-executive director, Debbie Connolly, and also received its first million-dollar endowment courtesy of Lois A. Kirkwood, a retired nurse who died in Winchester on Nov. 25, 2016, and left her entire estate to community organizations. Thanks to Kirkwood’s gift, the CFNSV announced in September 2017 that it had grown to 76 charitable funds and an endowment of $3.6 million.

Nancy Baker, who was named executive director of the CFNSV in June, said building the endowment from $1.6 million in 2017 to $17.6 million today was due not just to the growing number of people who entrusted their philanthropy to the foundation, but also to the wise investments overseen through the years by Mason Investment Advisory Services of Reston, which oversees the endowment’s growth.

“The funds are all pooled in different portfolios … that they check every 10 days and tweak,” Baker said on Wednesday. “Plus the market’s been really good this year.”

When a person, family or organization creates a fund, it’s with the understanding that it will be invested and grown so that proceeds can eventually be used to issue grants to nonprofits and organizations that need funding. Some of the larger funds support multiple causes, and grant recipients each year are selected by the CFNSV’s Community Impact Committee after a competitive application process.

“We reviewed over 60 applications this year, which is the largest we’ve ever had,” Baker said. “We just wish we had more to give.”

Forty-six grants from seven of the foundation’s largest funds were announced at Wednesday’s luncheon. No individual grant amounts were provided but the total disbursements added up to $100,000.

CFNSV Secretary Kathy Napier kicked off the presentations by announcing grant recipients from one of its most significant funds, the Cochran Family Youth Fund. This year grantees were the AbbaCare Pregnancy Resource Center, Arte Libre VA, the Congregational Community Action Project (CCAP), the ChildSafe Center, Girls on the Run of the Shenandoah Valley and Special Love, all of Winchester; and Reaching Out Now and Samuels Public Library, both of Front Royal.

Napier also revealed the organizations benefiting this year from the Community Foundation of the Northern Shenandoah Valley’s Future Fund: Blue Ridge Housing Network, Cars Changing Lives, the Phoenix Project and Samuels Public Library, all of Front Royal; Blue Ridge Legal Services, Families Reaching Out Group (Froggy’s Closet), Just Neighbors Ministry Inc., the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley, Our Health, the Winchester Area SPCA, The Laurel Center and the Winchester Area Temporary Transitional Shelter (WATTS), all of Winchester; and The McShin Foundation of Richmond.

Beatley announced that this year’s sole grant from the Beatley-Stevenson Family Fund went to the 2 for 2 Foundation of Winchester.

CFNSV board member Susan Scarborough said grants from the Boxley-Fox Endowment Fund went to the Shenandoah Arts Council, Shenandoah University and Winchester Little Theatre, all of Winchester; and the Barns of Rose Hill in Berryville.

Barry Lee Bowser, founder of the annual Chain of Checks fundraising campaign that is now overseen by the CFNSV, said this year’s Chain of Checks grants are going to Concern Hotline, Love to NIC and the Sinclair Health Clinic, all of Winchester; and Seniors First (Shenandoah Area Agency on Aging) of Front Royal. Unlike most of the other grants announced on Wednesday, Bowser said Chain of Checks is still collecting donations on behalf of its recipients and the money will be awarded early next year.

Bob and Susan Claytor said recipients of this year’s grants from the Claytor Family Fund were Opportunity Scholars and the Shenandoah Valley Discovery Museum, both of Winchester; Timber Ridge School of Cross Junction; the Salvation Army of Front Royal; and People Incorporated of Virginia‘s Head Start program in the Northern Shenandoah Valley.

CFNSV Vice President Kathy Kanter announced that the Paul and Martha Rees Fund’s grant recipients were Access Independence, the Greater Shenandoah Valley chapter of the American Red Cross, the Foundation for Rehabilitation Equipment and Endowment (FREE), Highland Food Pantry, NW Works, the Godfrey Miller Center, Wheels for Wellness and You’re Not Alone Ministry, all of Winchester; the Front Royal-Warren County Congregational Community Action Project (C-CAP) and St. Luke Community Clinic, both of Front Royal; and Bringing Resources to Aid Women’s Shelters (BRAWS) of Vienna.

Baker said she’s pleased to be the CFNSV’s executive director because it puts her in the satisfying position of helping multiple nonprofits that serve their communities, “and they really need it right now.”

“This is just a joyful day to recognize their hard work,” she said. “It’s really fun when we can connect a recipient with a donor.”

To learn more about the Community Foundation of the Northern Shenandoah Valley, visit cfnsv.org.