Jefferson Educational Society and The Erie Community Foundation Announce Matching Gift to JES Endowment Fund
January 27, 2025
ERIE, Pennsylvania (Monday, Jan. 27) – Beginning today, those wishing to make a charitable donation to the Jefferson Educational Society through The Erie Community Foundation can see their impact doubled.
Thanks to the pledge of Bruce Raimy, one of the JES’s co-founders and current Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees, all donations to the Jefferson Educational Society Endowment Fund at The Erie Community Foundation will be matched dollar for dollar.
“I created this endowment because I truly believe in the tremendous impact and value of both the Jefferson Educational Society and The Erie Community Foundation,” Raimy said. “I want to help ensure the longevity of the mission of the JES – to promote civic enlightenment, and to drive community progress for the Erie Region through the examination, research, and discussion of those ideas and events that have influenced the human condition while exploring central ideas that have formed the past, assisting in studying the present, and offering informed guidance to enhance the civic future of the Erie region. The community foundation, knowing its decades of commitment to and investment in the region, is the perfect steward of the fund.”
The Jefferson Educational Society Endowment Fund at The Erie Community Foundation was established in 2023.
“We are incredibly grateful to Mr. Raimy’s commitment to Erie’s community-based nonpartisan think tank,” said Dr. Ferki Ferati, President of the Jefferson Educational Society. “We truly believe in the power to continue to have an impact at the local level by working to provide world-class civic education and to drive civic engagement through events, publications, and public policy work. This opportunity helps to ensure the work we have done with the community has a bright and lasting future for not just years but decades to come. Bruce has been with us since day one and has helped us grow to where we are today. His commitment here helps ensure our growth and service to the community well into the future.”
“The middle name of Jefferson Educational Society is ‘educational’, and our middle name is ‘community,’” said Karen Bilowith, President and CEO of The Erie Community Foundation. “The matching gift from Mr. Raimy is an inspiring goal to increase educational opportunities for our community. Providing a dollar-for dollar match engages others, which is empowering.”
Raimy has pledged the dollar-for-dollar match up to $250,000 of individual donations of up to $25,000.
To make a contribution to the Jefferson Educational Society Endowment Fund, please deliver or send a check made payable to The Erie Community Foundation (459 W. Sixth St., Erie, PA 16507) with JES Endowment Fund marked on the memo line.
For comments, please contact:
Ben Speggen Vice President
Jefferson Educational Society
814.440.3618
Speggen@JESerie.org
Erin D. Fessler Vice President of Marketing & Community/Government Relations
The Erie Community Foundation
814.873.2630 EFessler@ErieCommunityFoundation.org
The Jefferson Educational Society of Erie is a nonprofit and nonpartisan institution founded to promote civic enlightenment and community progress for the Erie region through study, research, and discussion. The JES offers courses, seminars, and lectures that explain the central ideas that have formed the past, assist in exploring the present, and offer guidance to enhance the civic future of the Erie region. As an Erie think tank, the JES promotes knowledge and civic pride through research, the publication of policy papers on public issues, essays, reports, and the sponsorship of civic forums. To lean more, visit www.JESErie.org.
The Erie Community Foundation’s mission is to inspire, engage and empower donors and communities across the region, today and tomorrow. We envision a united, vibrant, and thriving region for all. The Foundation signed the Nonprofit Partnership’s Diversity Equity & Inclusion Pledge in 2019 to demonstrate our commitment to our community. To learn more visit www.ErieCommunityFoundation.org.
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