Why We Give: Jeannine Schoenecker

Why We Give is a series of profiles highlighting the generosity and spirit of our donors from our Foundation and The Community Foundation of Westmoreland County. We hope sharing their stories of kindness and dedication will inspire others to help those in need move from surviving to thriving.
About me: I am a lifelong resident of Western Pennsylvania, and I grew up in Blawnox. I currently live in Middlesex Township in Butler County.
My dad was a maintenance foreman, and my mom raised five children. We were by no means wealthy, in fact, my dad was laid off often, and our family received food assistance both through the state and from food pantries. Four of my five siblings went to college, thanks to federal and state tuition assistance, low interest loans and scholarships.
My career started as an accountant for a small public accounting firm, Kline and Keppel. After becoming a certified public accountant, I got a job as an assistant controller for a family-run oil refinery, American Refining Group, Inc. (ARG). There I met my husband, Brett, who grew up in Bellevue. He was progressing in his career in the environmental business when he came to work for the company as the environmental, health and safety manager. When he joined ARG, I was the controller. We were part of a work friend group that played sports together, went to concerts and dinners. We were friends for several years before dating. Because we were part of the friend group, and we worked for the same company, we never told anyone we were dating until our relationship got serious. We were married on Sept. 21, 1996, while at ARG. We were married for 26 years before he passed away in April 2023 from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or ALS, (commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease).
Why We Give
Early on, my parents taught us the value of giving back. Despite their lack of financial resources, they often went out of their way to help those less fortunate by either sharing what they had and/or by volunteering their time. They never drew attention to their actions; they simply set the example by helping those less fortunate than our family.
Brett’s upbringing was the same as mine. His parents often volunteered their time in the communities in which they lived and encouraged their children to do the same.
This idea of giving back was reinforced by the owner of ARG, Harry Halloran. He believed that business enterprises had an obligation to contribute back to the communities where they operated. He made charitable giving possible by setting up a matching gift program for employees; contributing a set percentage of corporate profits annually to charity; and donating personally to the local community.

As Brett and I progressed in our careers, we understood how fortunate we were to have the parents that we had. They encouraged us to get an education, to work hard and, of course, to give back. It was then I realized that while in no way did we grow up monetarily rich, we were rich in the values taught to us in our upbringing. As we became more financially stable, we thought about incorporating charitable giving into our budget because we wanted to pay forward what was given to us. We pledged to ourselves that we would give 10% of our gross income annually to charitable organizations. While we did not have any organizations specifically in mind, we did a little research and contributed to charities that supported education and basic human services like food assistance, health care, mental health resources, job training and resources, child care for working parents and shelter. Also, throughout our marriage, we had rescue dogs, so animal shelters became a part of our giving portfolio.
We moved to Bradford, Pennsylvania, in 2011 when I became president and chief operating officer, and we lived there until 2018 when we moved back to Pittsburgh after Brett’s ALS diagnosis. Bradford is a rural community, and we came to further appreciate the voids that many charitable organizations filled for the region, especially in the areas of education, health care, human services and economic development. Rural communities often lack the tax base and economic resources to support the population so during this time, we decided to set up the Jeannine and Brett Schoenecker Family Fund with the intention of using it for our estate planning. While we were living in Bradford, we decided upon The Pittsburgh Foundation because we wanted to support an organization based in our hometown. Through the fund, I continue to support organizations in Bradford, but also include organizations in Western Pennsylvania:
- Organizations providing funds to support care services, advocacy and research for ALS. While Brett and I lived with the terminal disease, we came to appreciate the organizations that supported the ALS community. There were organizations that lobbied for funding for both research and care services. Organizations that were doing research to find not only a cure for the disease, but to discover biomarkers and the cause of the disease. Still other organizations provided care services for durable medical equipment (often not covered by health insurance), support groups and ALS education. Having this as part of our charitable giving strategy allows us to pay it forward to other people living with ALS and their families.
- Organizations that ensure individuals and families have access to the most essential resources for well-being, with a preference to organizations that serve youth and children.
- Organizations that support programs to reduce the racial wealth gap.
- Friends of Fran. This is a scholarship established to honor my sister Fran Greene who passed away from pancreatic cancer.
- And finally, animal shelters, because we had rescue dogs throughout our marriage and realize that these organizations not only take care of stray animals but also provide immense joy to a family that adopts a pet.

Contact us today.
For more information about how to start a fund, please contact the development and donor services department at 412-394-2630 or via email at development [at] pghfdn.org (development[at]pghfdn[dot]org).