In The News

Critical Needs Alert generated $1.67 million to help fund basic needs such as food, housing and child care in the Pittsburgh region. Total donations to the #ONEDAY Critical Needs Alert included about $865,000 from the public and $800,000 from an incentive pool established by The Pittsburgh Foundation and the Community Foundation of Westmoreland County.

On Saturday, the Pittonkatonk Mayday Brass BBQ & Potluck takes over the Vietnam Veteran’s Pavilion in Schenley Park in its sixth year there with What Cheer? Brigade back again for a daylong festival with diverse yet like-minded groups from all over the world. The event is free, thanks to support from The Pittsburgh Foundation, The Heinz Endowments, Opportunity Fund, The Grable Foundation, and Remake Learning.

Director of Philanthropy at the Pittsburgh Foundation, Kelly Uranker joined Larry Richert and John Shumway to discuss OneDay, an event sponsored by the Pittsburgh Foundation that accepts donations to help individuals in need all day long. This year's critical needs are child care, food and nutrition, housing, physical/mental health, and transportation.

Phil Koch, executive director of The Community Foundation of Westmoreland County, and Mary Bode, co-owner of Knead Community Cafe in New Kensington, appeared on Pittsburgh Today Live, to discuss the mission of the cafe and today's Critical Needs Alert.

The Western Pennsylvania Center for the Arts, which Myers-Toward runs with her husband, Ralph Myers, sells, rents and repairs instruments. But it also hosts performances and offers a variety of programs from group painting classes to private harp lessons that are free or low-cost through the nonprofit WPCA Academy. Through a $1,500 grant from The Pittsburgh Foundation, the founding couple was able to purchase music stands, sheet music and folders for these budding Beethovens.

Video: Our foundation's Executive Vice President Yvonne Maher and Chief Advancement Officer of Greater Pittsburgh Food Bank Traci Weatherford-Brown discuss our May 7 Critical Needs Event on KDKA-TV's Pittsburgh Today Live.

The Pittsburgh and Westmoreland County foundations have tapped into a fertile source of funds and goodwill that charities in other places should leverage as well. Communities always have unmet needs, and some of these can be addressed one modest donation at a time.

Kelly Uranker, director of the Center for Philanthropy at the Pittsburgh Foundation, also sees these statistics proven true in her foundation’s vol­unteer pool, particularly regarding the working woman. Statistics show 27.2% of employed people volunteer versus 23.3% of unemployed. “We see women taking significant roles in our programs,” Uranker says. “The women who are participating are primarily full-time working women, mothers or not, who come into this with a lifetime of working and prior volunteering experiences.” 

The Pittsburgh Foundation believes the plan is a “very important initiative in terms of where resources will be going and for what over the next decade,” according to spokesman Doug Root. Foundation president Maxwell King has been meeting with the mayor’s administration on OnePGH, but Mr. Root directed detailed questions back to the mayor’s office until the plan’s public launch.

Pittsburgh’s community and political leaders were gathered in East Liberty to celebrate the second anniversary of the All-In Pittsburgh Equitable Development Collaborative, a coalition of community organizations dedicated to racial and economic justice. As dozens of activists and members of the media crowded into the lobby of the historic theater, they heard from speakers including the artist Jasiri X of 1Hood Media, Neighborhood Allies President Presley Gillespie, Pittsburgh Foundation President and CEO Maxwell King, Pittsburgh City Council member Ricky Burgess and Mayor Bill Peduto.