The Erie Community Foundation (ECF) is a prominent public charity in Erie, Pennsylvania in the United States.
History
ECF was established as the Erie Endowment on June 1, 1949 by Elisha H. Mack, the co-founder of the Erie Dry Goods Store, later to be known as The Boston Store. He placed 100 shares of his store's Class A common stock (at $100 par value each) into an irrevocable trust on December 10, 1935. The endowment was incorporated in 1949 with a value of over $250,000. The balance of Mack's estate was gifted to the endowment in 1953, soon after his death on December 23, 1952.
Mack directed that a small portion of the proceeds go to designated local charities and beneficiaries for fifty years after his death, with the remainder of the proceeds to be directed to local benevolences at the discretion of the trustees.
ECF became a public charity in 1971 as a result of tax reforms enacted in 1969. The fund, now valued at over $200 million, consists of over 500 separate endowments. It is recognized by the Council on Foundations as compliant with national accountability standards. It won the Council on Foundations' 2004 and 2006 Wilmer Shields Rich Award (silver medal) for its public information campaigns.
In November 2007, the ECF announced that a donor who wished to be known only as "Anonymous Friend" had given the foundation a "staggering" $100 million gift.