One Million Dollars and Fifteen Years of Community Leadership in Yates County
October 26, 2026For 15 years, the Yates Community Endowment has offered Yates County residents a way to strengthen the communities they call home. A dedicated group of local volunteers help guide grantmaking, while Rochester Area Community Foundation contributes resources, connections, and support for collaboration. Together, they’ve helped direct $1 million in cumulative grants to community needs and have responded to challenges that require more than funding alone.
Community-Led Philanthropy
Yates County spans about 400 square miles in the heart of the Finger Lakes, with four villages and nine townships, rich cultural traditions, predominantly rural characteristics, and unique needs. The Endowment’s grantmaking is guided by residents who volunteer to review applications, make connections, and offer local insight so that the grants can make a real difference in their communities.
“I am optimistic about the future because we have a fantastic nonprofit community here in Yates County,” says Nancy Rees, chair of the Yates Community Endowment advisory committee. “Our endowment is simply an enabler for Yates nonprofits; they are the heart, brains, legs, and arms. Together, their efforts and our funds help Yates County residents have a better quality of life.”
The History of the Yates Community Endowment
The idea for a permanent source of support for Yates County originated back in 2010. That year, Katie Nord Pederson, of Penn Yan, approached Rochester Area Community Foundation about the idea of growing philanthropic support for Yates County. The following year, the Nord Family Foundation, based out of Amherst, Ohio, awarded a $100,000 challenge grant to establish the Yates Community Endowment, matching dollar-for-dollar contributions designated for broad support of Yates County. Yates County residents and advocates stepped up to answer the call, and the endowment has grown every year since.
Investing in Yates County Nonprofits
This year, $139,000 was awarded to 18 nonprofits through the Yates Community Endowment’s annual grantmaking with additional resources from other Rochester Area Community Foundation *funds. These organizations help residents meet basic needs, expand opportunities for young people and seniors, and strengthen the support systems available in Yates County.
Residents of Yates County will recognize staple community organizations among the list of grantees.
2026 grantees:
- Bishop Sheen Ecumenical Housing Foundation, Inc.
- Catholic Charities of the Finger Lakes
- Cornell Cooperative Extension, Yates County
- Dundee Library
- Family Counseling Service of the Finger Lakes
- Finger Lakes Horizon Economic Development Corporation
- Manor Crest Foundation
- Milly’s Pantry
- Our Town Rocks
- Pennsylvania Yankee Theatre Company
- Saint Mark’s Terrace Dundee
- Saint Mark’s Terrace Penn Yan
- Saunders Finger Lakes Museum
- Sweet Farm Foundation
- The Living Well
- Thrive to Survive
- Yates Cultural & Recreational Resources
- YMCA of Greater Rochester
In 2025, a needs assessment conducted by Rochester Area Community Foundation found that families with children and older adults have the greatest need for support in Yates County.
The Yates Community Endowment has a longstanding focus on youth and seniors, with particular support for organizations like Milly’s Pantry, Yates Community Center, Pennsylvania Yankee Theatre Company, and the YMCA. Through the YMCA, grants help local youth attend Camp Cory.
Leadership and Long-Term Impact
Beyond grantmaking, Rochester Area Community Foundation staff work with the Endowment’s advisory committee to analyze community needs, connect nonprofits with additional funding sources, and bring organizations together to address shared challenges.
For example, members of the advisory committee and Community Foundation staff helped launch the Yates Food Access Coalition in partnership with Cornell Cooperative Extension of Yates County and Yates County Public Health to make the local emergency food network more resilient after SNAP benefits paused in late 2025.
Providing support during community-wide challenges is not a new role for the Yates Community Endowment. In 2014, when flash flooding devastated homes, businesses, and roads, the Endowment raised $177,000 in just a few months to assist those affected. In 2020, the Endowment established the Yates Emergency Relief Fund to support nonprofits during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I feel most proud of how RACF has been a partner with us and our nonprofits, not only in funding additional grants, but helping us step up quickly in times of extraordinary crisis,” says Rees. “It’s not our normal mode, but it shows how flexible we can be to respond to abnormal things.”
Learn more about getting involved with your neighbors to support Yates County at racf.org/Yates.
*The grants listed above are made possible through the Yates Community Endowment Fund and affiliate funds, which include the Robert F. Flickinger Memorial Fund, McMullen Family Fund, Spring Hill Fund, and Willie Taaffe Memorial Fund. This year, Rochester Area Community Foundation’s generous donor advised fundholders provided an additional $10,759 to put towards the YCE grantmaking in addition to support from the following permanent funds entrusted to the Community Foundation: W.R. and Dorothy Brogan Fund, Mary Elizabeth Conlon Fund, Maxion Family Charitable Fund, and Philip and Dolores Neivert Fund.
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