Legacy Fund Profiles

Community Foundation Announces $55,000 in Grants to Non-Profits Serving Companion Animals

October 24, 2023 The Community Foundation of New Jersey today announced fourteen grants totaling $55,000 to non-profit organizations that support companion animals. The funding is made available by the Great Companions Fund, a legacy fund at the Community Foundation. Organizations receiving funding include: South Jersey Regional Animal Shelter – Community Outreach’s CASA (Companion Animal Support and Assistance) program.…

Animal Lover’s Philanthropic Legacy Continues in Morris Plains

October 10, 2018 For one longtime fundholder at the Community Foundation, a charitable bequest was the perfect way to continue her legacy of care and concern for animals. The Community Foundation now administers the Great Companions Fund – an endowed fund established through a bequest in the fundholder’s will – and ensures that the dollars are put toward the most effective programs in line with the fundholder’s intent: to care for and work with companion animals and wildlife across New Jersey.…

A Father’s Tribute, a Family’s Legacy, a Resource for New Jersey

July 21, 2016 When Beatrice Oberkirch Curtis passed away in March 2013, it set into motion a series of events that unlocked a major philanthropic resource for New Jersey and with it the story of her late husband who, years before his own death, put together the pieces to perpetuate his family’s philanthropic legacy.…

Realizing a Fundholder’s Wish: Services for the Vision-Impaired

Like all community foundations, CFNJ maintains its commitment and loyalty to its individual fundholders, many of whom seek to make an important difference in the community, but need a trusted partner to help realize their philanthropic goals. In 1996, the Alkemade Fund was established at CFNJ under the estate of George and Yvonne Alkemade.…

Legacy of an Animal Lover: Great Companions Fund

February 7, 2013 A well-known yet anonymous quote offers, “The purity of a person’s heart can be quickly measured by how they regard animals.” A Community Foundation fundholder certainly embraced this philosophy and, through a heartfelt bequest, is helping others experience the happiness animals can bring to the lives of people across the Garden State.…

Irene Adler Van Deusen: A Lasting Legacy of Art and Service

December 2006 Our community was saddened earlier this year by the loss of a wonderful citizen – Irene Adler Van Deusen. Irene, a resident of Mendham, worked in Human Resources at Warner Lambert in Morris Plains and, prior to that, in Connecticut before her retirement in 1987.…