[pj3000]

Originally Posted by themaguffin

I expected to see our Erie members dancing on the virtual streets with the great news that is making national headlines........

Yeah, it's good to see Erie making the national headlines for something positive for a change. Thanks for reminding me to post the good news! I think it deserves its own thread. It's considered to be one of the largest single charitable donations in history, and certainly must be the largest anonymous donations.

Anonymous gift of $100 million an Erie mystery

Charities in struggling Pa. city benefit from largess of 'Anonymous Friend'

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ERIE, Pa. - The heads of 46 charities in this once-bustling iron and steel city were invited to one-on-one meetings to personally hear the news. On a small table nearby sat a box of tissues.
The tears began to flow — and the mystery began — when they learned that a donor had given a staggering $100 million to the Erie Community Foundation, and all of the charities would receive a share.
In this struggling old industrial city of 102,000, the donor is known only as "Anonymous Friend."

Mike Batchelor, president of the Erie Community Foundation, has been sworn to secrecy and will say 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 said. 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 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," said 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 city — and the entire county of 280,000 — could clearly use the money.
Erie was once a bustling iron and steel town, and later also made machinery, plastics, paper and furniture. But many factories eventually closed or moved overseas.
The city's poverty rate is about 19 percent, or twice the U.S. average, median household income is $31,196, vs. $48,451 nationally, and as of 2006, it had an estimated 400 homeless people.
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. Cancilla clutched a balled-up tissue and fought back tears as she talked about the gift.

She said 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 said. 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 between $1 million and $2 million. The recipients include a food bank, a women's center, a group for the blind and three universities.
Some charity officials fear that other people will see the large donation and decide their small contributions are not needed. But Batchelor said that is not what Anonymous Friend intended at all: "I know that the donor hopes this will inspire others to give within their means."

Erie, Pa., charities get $100 million anonymous gift


Thursday, November 15, 2007 Amanda Garrett
Plain Dealer Reporter
Erie, Pa. -- Who gave $100 million to a few dozen charities in this rust belt town?
It could be almost anyone, locals say. A local insurance magnate. A family that owns motels and restaurants. Maybe even a celebrity.
"You know, Kevin Costner used to come here just to ride the buses," Jessica Newhouse, 26, said at the downtown Starbucks. "He liked that no one recognized him."



Erie is that kind of town -- where nobody needs to know your name or what you've done.
When former Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Lynn Swann strolled into Starbucks on Monday, he sat with a coffee for a half hour before anyone asked for an autograph, customers said.
And actress Sharon Stone, born in nearby Meadeville, breezes through once in a while without anyone making a fuss.
It's unlikely, though, that any of those celebrities has $100 million to throw around for charity.
But that hasn't stopped the speculation. Media from around the world are converging on Erie to tell the tale of its mysterious windfall.
The London paper The Guardian reported this week that Mike Batchelor, the head of a charitable umbrella divvying up the $100 million, kept a box of tissues near his desk when he broke the good news to the health and human service organizations.
Buffalo's newspaper planned to tour Erie's soup kitchens and clinics Wednesday. And today, "Good Morning America" (WEWS Channel 5) plans to run a segment about Erie's good fortune.

It isn't news to people in Erie. They've known about the gift for more than a month.
Downtown Tuesday, office workers and students from nearby Gannon University ogled the pomegranates and pumpkins piled under a blue-and-white-striped produce tent.
When a stranger asked what they thought about the $100 million gift, shoppers never mentioned what the money might do for Erie.




They wanted to talk about the mystery.
"Everyone says it's the Hirts," said one woman, referring to a wealthy local family who founded Erie Indemnity insurance company, one of the city's largest employers.
But a man quickly butted in and said that didn't make sense. The Hirts have been squabbling over money since the family patriarch died this summer. "If they all want the fortune, why would they give it away?" he asked.
Maybe it's the guy who owns all the motels out by the freeway, the man suggested. But as quickly as he said it, he took it back, conceding the motel owner didn't have that kind of cash.
"It really doesn't matter who it is," said Barb Skonieczki, 51, bagging up a peck of Ida Red apples for $5.50.
Skonieczki said we live in cynical times:
Politicians emblazon their names on buildings constructed with tax dollars.
Musicians fight over who wrote what song.
And starlettes stitch their logos into their own line of shoes.
"Whoever gave this money to Erie is a role model, finally, for my 16-year-old daughter," Skonieczki said.




"Frankly, I find this mystery refreshing."
People who work with local charities don't care who gave the money. They say the city has long needed a boost.
Elaborate stone and brick mansions with columns the size of tractor tires attest to Erie's 20th-century manufacturing prosperity.
But the single clang of a bell at the Erie City Mission this week sounded an uncertain future for a town that has lost so many factory jobs. Several dozen men lined up for seconds and thirds of boiled cabbage and ham - likely their only meal of the day.
Batchelor, president of the Erie Community Foundation, called the gift "transformational" for local charities, many of whom barely survive on $50 and $100 donations. He also said the $100 million may be the largest donation ever given to a community foundation anywhere. When asked about the donor this week, Batchelor politely but firmly declined to offer any insight into who gave the money or what motivated the donor.
He offered only one confounding clue:
It's not who you think it is.