JOHNSON CITY, NY – The Delaware County Business Alliance honored the Catskills Campaign for the Future Fund (CCFF) with its prestigious Community Connector Award, recognizing the Fund’s mission to strengthen and sustain nonprofits across the Catskills. The award, presented during the Alliance’s annual dinner on August 20th, celebrated organizations actively fostering collaboration and capacity building in local communities.
“Our Community Connector Award is presented to an organization or person taking effective steps to build collaborative capacity in and among our communities,” said Ray Pucci, President of Delaware County Business Alliance. “Nonprofit organizations continue to provide essential services to ever growing numbers of residents with diminished resources. The Catskills Campaign for the Future Fund is an opportunity to build awareness, create new collaboration, and ensure sustainability for these vital organizations.”
Local nonprofits play a critical role in conservation, environmental stewardship, and community development throughout the vast, rural NYC watershed, all while facing chronic underfunding. These organizations tackle urgent challenges such as mental health access, food insecurity, and lack of public transportation, underscoring the need for the flexible, sustainable funding that the CCFF seeks to provide.
Launched by the Community Foundation for South Central New York (CFSCNY) on June 24, 2025, the CCFF aims to raise $5 million by year’s end providing multi-year, unrestricted general operating support to community-based charitable organizations. The pilot will begin in Delaware County this fall, expanding to watershed areas of Greene, Schoharie, Sullivan, and Ulster counties in subsequent years. Grant recipients will be selected by an advisory committee composed of embedded local leaders, with the first round of grants to be announced in February 2026.
“The CCFF steering committee is very grateful to the Delaware County Business Alliance and Ray Pucci for this generous award,” said Marjorie Miller, CCFF Steering Committee member. “This fund is based on an idea I had over a decade ago. It will address non-profit needs within the five-county footprint of the New York City watershed. We are capitalizing the fund via NYC residents, while working to secure matching funds from local and regional partners. Our motto is Do Good, Have Fun(ds), while addressing very real needs. Thank you for this recognition, and to Ray Pucci, for your service to Delaware County and for being a vital part of our rollout.”
The Community Foundation for South Central New York., is a nonprofit organization founded in 1997 and headquartered in Johnson City. The Foundation encourages and facilitates personal and institutional philanthropy throughout the region by working with local donors and organizations. From their $47 million assets under management, the Foundation has awarded over $33 million in grants to the area’s nonprofits to help address community concerns and improve the quality of life in the region through their 170 plus funds. The Community Foundation serves donors and nonprofits in five New York counties: Broome, Chenango, Delaware, Otsego and Tioga. More information about the Foundation can be found on its website at donorswhocare.org.
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