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A secure foundation for changing needs
Bank trust officer Charles F. Zukoski knew the problems of money remaining in trust for a particular purpose when the need for which they were established no longer existed. In the 1950s, he and other civic leaders saw the value of setting up a public endowment dedicated to serving the community’s needs, with the flexibility to address changing issues.
A committee headed by A.J. Bowron Jr. studied the best way to proceed. Also on the committee were J.N. Greene, Thomas W. Martin, John E. Meyer, John C. Schor, P.G. Shook, Frank E. Spain, William M. Spencer, Richard J. Stockham and A.V. Weibel.
At the founding of the Community Foundation in May 1959, the first banks to serve as trustees of funds established by early donors were First National Bank, Exchange Security Bank and Birmingham Trust National Bank. Members of the first grants committee were Robert Block, Milton Brooks, William J. Cabaniss, Katherine Hammond, Hugh Kaul, J.D. McSpadden, Dr. John W. Simpson, Stockham and M.H. Sterne.
When Peggy Spain McDonald was appointed executive director in 1964, the Community Foundation took important steps toward its role as a catalyst for positive change. A first unrestricted gift the next year, a bequest of $325,000 from Mrs. Gaby Savage Baldwin in memory of late husband Paul Savage, set the stage for the Community Foundation’s first initiative — to provide a way for prevent poor children going hungry during the school day.
