"After we get our Trail built....what then? Where do funds come from to maintain and develop it?" Those are essentially the questions asked of your Board in a recent session by Board member and attorney Dick Wilson. Wilson acknowledged that the Montour Trail Council has good reason to be proud of being an all-volunteer organization with an excellent record of private fund raising over the fifteen years of its existence. The reality is, however, that most of the Trail construction money has come from federal and state grants- grants that are not readily available for maintenance, equipment and "soft costs" like fees.

The MTC Board agreed that we will need to continue to operate our Trail as a Council over its ultimate 55 miles and 40 bridges once it is built. "If not us, then who?"...became the question. Dennis Pfeiffer, Trail President, then formed a focus group to look into answers and make recommendations. Dennis and his committee above announce the establishment of The Montour Trail Endowment Fund that, once it is mature, can be drawn on to supplement annual giving. The MTC Board selected Adam Davidson, Director of Financial Planning for Hefren-Tillotson, Inc., a brokerage firm - and approved investment advisor and Maureen Mahoney, development officer of The Pittsburgh Foundation - a firm specializing charitable gift funding and fund management to establish the program.

The Pittsburgh Foundation requires a $10,000 minimum fund to open an endowment account with them. It was gratifying to learn in our July Board "kickoff" meeting that an anonymous donor offered $5,000 to start, bolstered by another $1,000 from a Board member. There's a promising start!

Over the next several issues your newsletter will carry articles on how our fund will work and the many ways is which you can participate. We hope you will want to do so.

John Hooton and Adam Davidson