When Carol Gloff established the Little Valley Fund, she did so with the dream of giving back to and supporting beautification projects and activities to foster a more vibrant future for the hometown she loved.
Gloff said that dream was a cautiously optimistic one when she led efforts to establish the fund at the Cattaraugus Region Community Foundation in 2019. Today the fund has supported its first projects, the renovation of a gazebo in the village’s main park and financing a summer concert. And, the fund will continue to grow and make possible even more projects in Little Valley.
The Little Valley Fund made two grants recently – $900 to support repairs of the village gazebo and $500 to pay local musicians for an installment of the village’s summer concert series.
Gloff said village officials approached members of the Little Valley Fund committee with the Gazebo project this year in order to replace rotting wood on the gazebo in the center of the village. The $900 grant from the Little Valley Fund helped offset expenses, with the village investing funds of its own to make work possible.
The $500 grant paid for one of the four summer concerts held in Little Valley this summer.
For Gloff, who now lives in Massachusetts but often visits her hometown, these grants and the many grants to come from the fund are the manifestation of what she once thought was a far-off goal.
“To be honest, I was not sure what to expect when I had the idea for this fund,” said Gloff. “I thought we would be able to raise $5,000 (the minimum for a CRCF endowed fund), but I did not expect the overwhelming support the fund has received in the last couple years.”
Today, more than 80 individuals and families have given over $30,000 to the Little Valley Fund, many of whom according to Gloff, grew up in Little Valley and have since moved away, like herself.
“I think it says volumes about growing up in Little Valley that so many who do not live in the village full time have given to the fund,” Gloff said. “We all just want to see a place so near and dear to our hearts be successful.”
The support of the Little Valley Fund comes at a critical time, when many municipalities have had their budgets pinched by the COVID-19 pandemic.
What is more, the support of the Little Valley Fund will last in perpetuity as Gloff established the fund as an endowment at CRCF.
“It was very forward thinking of Carol to establish the fund with the long-term vision of an endowment,” said CRCF Executive Director Karen Niemic Buchheit. “Endowments at CRCF are invested and managed for long-term income and growth, so the fund will continue to make possible annual grants, while also being managed to last in perpetuity so that support never goes away.”
Donations can be made to the Little Valley Fund at CRCF, 301 North Union St., Suite 203 or online at cattfoundation.org.
The Cattaraugus Region Community Foundation is the area’s supportive, responsive and trusted community foundation. Established in 1994, CRCF is growing good by connecting donors to the causes they care about most in the region. Grants from the foundation support many areas, including education, scholarships, health care, the arts, community development, human service, and youth development. To learn more, call (716) 301-CRCF (2723), email [email protected], or visit online at www.cattfoundation.org. CRCF is also on Facebook (facebook.com/cattfoundation) and Twitter (@CattFoundation).
