"Mystery $100M donation lifts Pa. city"
By JENNIFER C. YATES, Associated Press WriterMon Nov 12, 2:26 PM ET
"Mike Batchelor invited the heads of 46 charities into his downtown office for o
ne-on-one meetings to personally deliver the news. Nearby, on a small table, sat a box of tissues.
And then he proceeded: A donor had given a staggering $100 million to the Erie Community Foundation, and all of the charities would receive a share.
That was when the tears began to flow — and the mystery began — in this struggling old industrial city of 102,000 on Lake Erie, where the donor is known only as "Anonymous Friend."
Batchelor, president of the Erie Community Foundation, has been sworn to secrecy and will allow only that the donor worked with the organization for years to identify deserving recipients before the announcement over the summer.
Is the donor dead or alive? No comment, Batchelor says. What is the donor's connection to Erie? No comment.
The talk about the gift has taken an interesting turn in recent weeks: As much as everyone here would like to know their benefactor's identity, many are also reluctant to pry.
"My feeling is that we're not honoring the donor if we spend time speculating about it," says Rebecca Brumagin, executive director at the Achievement Center, which provides physical therapy and other services to children. The center, which serves 3,200 children a year, will get $2 million.
"The needs are really great. So we will be able to help more children because of this," Brumagin says.
Kitty Cancilla cried when she learned the homeless shelter where she is executive director will get $2 million. Its previous largest donation was $25,000. Even now, Cancilla clutches a balled-up tissue and fights back tears as she talks about the gift.
Cancilla says she is unable even to speculate who the donor could be.
"We don't really travel in a community that knows the wealth of people," she says. And she prefers not to even try: "It's disrespectful to the friend. To me, that's a spiritual thing."
Each of the charities will get about $1 million to $2 million. The recipients include a food bank, a women's center, a group for the blind and three universities."
By JENNIFER C. YATES, Associated Press WriterMon Nov 12, 2:26 PM ET
"Mike Batchelor invited the heads of 46 charities into his downtown office for o
ne-on-one meetings to personally deliver the news. Nearby, on a small table, sat a box of tissues.And then he proceeded: A donor had given a staggering $100 million to the Erie Community Foundation, and all of the charities would receive a share.
That was when the tears began to flow — and the mystery began — in this struggling old industrial city of 102,000 on Lake Erie, where the donor is known only as "Anonymous Friend."
Batchelor, president of the Erie Community Foundation, has been sworn to secrecy and will allow only that the donor worked with the organization for years to identify deserving recipients before the announcement over the summer.
Is the donor dead or alive? No comment, Batchelor says. What is the donor's connection to Erie? No comment.
The talk about the gift has taken an interesting turn in recent weeks: As much as everyone here would like to know their benefactor's identity, many are also reluctant to pry.
"My feeling is that we're not honoring the donor if we spend time speculating about it," says Rebecca Brumagin, executive director at the Achievement Center, which provides physical therapy and other services to children. The center, which serves 3,200 children a year, will get $2 million.
"The needs are really great. So we will be able to help more children because of this," Brumagin says.
Kitty Cancilla cried when she learned the homeless shelter where she is executive director will get $2 million. Its previous largest donation was $25,000. Even now, Cancilla clutches a balled-up tissue and fights back tears as she talks about the gift.
Cancilla says she is unable even to speculate who the donor could be.
"We don't really travel in a community that knows the wealth of people," she says. And she prefers not to even try: "It's disrespectful to the friend. To me, that's a spiritual thing."
Each of the charities will get about $1 million to $2 million. The recipients include a food bank, a women's center, a group for the blind and three universities."
Erie is a small city in western Pennsylvania that has fallen on hard times the last few years.... what a difference these donations will make. Just hope they don't use if for down payments on stuff they ain't gonna be able to afford when the money runs out. Hope they give it a chance to grow....
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