CityView Magazine

CityViewNC.com | 47 giving Photos by Matthew Wonderly It's no surprise that most of us want to leave this world better than we found it. If nothing else, we want to know that our time on earth made even the slightest of difference for future generations. The Cumberland Community Foundation has been helping the people of Cumberland County do just that for almost 35 years. Leaving a Legacy BY KELLIE GENTRY HUSSMANN T he foundation was started in 1980 by Dr. Lucile Hutaff with a gi of $576,840. Now, it manages over $72 million, which is made of more than 450 funds creat- ed by the individuals and families of Cumberland County that support their favorite local charities. Organizations that contribute to Fayetteville's unique culture, such as the Fayetteville Symphony Orchestra, the Center for Economic Empowerment & Development and the North Carolina Civil War History Center Foundation are funded by dona- tions made through CCF. Dr. Hutaff 's nephew, Henry Hutaff, remembered the beginnings of the Foundation. "I was with the original committee. My aunt Lucille asked if I could serve and we were all volunteers. I was on the board for a long time. We hired Mary Holmes… and that was a wonderful day for us. She's made it a wonder- ful, wonderful thing for Fayetteville," he affirmed. "We are a charity, but we are a charity with the mission of improving the quality of life in all areas by helping people give in a permanent way," said Mary Holmes, the executive director of the Cum- berland Community Foundation. She explained that the collective effort of the Foundation through the fable of the stone soup: a stranger comes to a desolate town with the inten- tion of feeding its hungry people. He begins by asking for a big cauldron to boil the stones and a townsperson obliged. He tastes the soup and de- cides it could be better with half of a carrot, to which another townsperson offered, little by lit- tle and with the help of all the individuals of the town, the soup turns into a feast big enough to feed everyone. "Our most common gi is $25, people making a gi in honor of someone's birthday or in memory of someone who has passed, but all together, people are doing great things," Holmes said. e foundation allows people with any size do- nation to support thousands of local charities. "If you want to fund local organizations, you want people who know who those local organiza- tions are and understand what they do and know what their strengths and areas of improvement are," said Libby Daniel, a current member of the CCF board with a background in banking. "I've been so impressed with the way this or- ganization runs; it's very efficient and beautifully managed and the money is spent effectively," Dan- iel said. Donations made through the Foundation are set up as endowments with the purpose to enhance our community and are invested so that the impact will last forever. "By doing it that way, that money is perpetual, it Cumberland Community Foundation helps people support the causes they care about most. Henry Hutaff, Libby Daniel and Ry Southard

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