The Fort La Présentation Association recently celebrated a milestone in its partnership with the Northern New York Community Foundation, where it established a permanent endowment to ensure the organization’s sustainability.
The Community Foundation challenged the Association in 2017 when it awarded a pair of $10,000 matching grants, one to build community support for The Fort’s Abbé Picquet Trail project, and a second to establish a permanent endowment at the Foundation to support the Ogdensburg nonprofit’s ongoing work and mission.
Thanks to the Association’s Board of Directors, members, and donors, it met the challenge, with gifts to its endowment fund exceeding its goal.
“It is especially important today for nonprofits to diversify their funding sources. This has become more evident through the global health pandemic that has paused in-person fundraising activities and many special events,” Association President Barbara O’Keefe said. “We are proud of our partnership with the Community Foundation and appreciate its help as we work to recreate this historically significant site for all to enjoy.”
Community Foundation Executive Director Rande Richardson applauded the Association and its leadership for how it has worked to embrace the partnership.
“We are grateful for the proactive approach that the Association has taken to demonstrate a high level of stewardship and an awareness of the importance of protecting all the investments that are being made in their work and mission,” Mr. Richardson said. “By embracing this partnership, they send a strong signal to all of their stakeholders that they are committed to providing enduring value to the region. We feel honored to be a strategic partner toward that objective.”
Many Association donors are frequent walkers on The Fort’s interpretive Abbé Picquet Trail and have seen Fort volunteers spend countless hours working to ensure the 25-acre grounds are pristinely maintained. The year-round trail provides recreational access to the public at Van Rensselaer Point in Ogdensburg. The point along the St. Lawrence River was the site of Fort La Presentation, an early French Settlement founded in 1749.
Fort La Présentation Association’s mission is to build a historically accurate reconstruction of Fort de la Présentation and related structures in proximity to the original site and to oversee operation of the site. Its aim is to unite the community in support of this perpetual undertaking. The Association’s goals are to collect, develop, document, educate, interpret, maintain, preserve, recreate and research educational or historical ventures of interest to Ogdensburg and the St. Lawrence Valley.
Contact Northern New York Community Foundation Director of Stewardship and Programs Kraig Everard, kraig@nnycf.org, or 315-782-7110, to learn how you can support Fort La Présentation Association’s endowment, 315-782-7110, or visit http://www.nnycf.org.
fort1749.org 