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Your Community Foundation at Work!
In
the fall of 1984, a group of 10 Raleigh County residents were called to a meeting by Jim Word, president of Beckley Loan Company
and treasurer of the Dr. Thomas Walker Memorial Health Foundation. The Walker Foundation had been formed some 20 years earlier
and Word served on the board of directors. The Walker Foundation built a multi-specialty clinic known today as the Southern
West Virginia Clinic. The Walker Foundation managed the Southern West Virginia Clinic for a number of years and eventually
sold the facility to the doctors.
Word proposed that Beckley establish a community foundation similar
to one set up in Charleston during the early 1960's. The Walker Foundation offered a 1.1 million dollar donation as "seed"
money for this Raleigh County project. A community wide dinner
in January, 1985, at the Raleigh County Armory provided a venue to announce the formation of the Beckley Area Foundation.
BAF assets have now grown to more than $22 million in 341 different funds managed by our four trustee banks, JPMorgan
Chase, City National Bank, First Community Bank, and United Bank. Only the income from these funds is spent. The principal
remains intact to serve the community forever. Since its inception, the Foundation has distributed more than $6.8 million
to charities and other worthy projects in the fields of education, public recreation, health and human services, the arts
and beautification.
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