Given the choice between asking people for money to support your community and making grants to support nonprofits who offer help, most people would rather give it away.

“I could never ask for money”, many people have told me. “Giving it away seems much more fun.” 

I’ll let you in on a little secret. Both sides of the philanthropy equation can be equally exhilarating and beautiful.

Take, for example, the new Gettysburg – Hanover Connector. The new bus route now operates between the two transit hubs, through New Oxford, from 6am to 6pm, Monday through Friday.

The Connector didn’t follow the typical “tell the Community Foundation what you need and we’ll decide if we can give you money to help make it happen” scenario.

Instead, the Connector grew out of broad partnership efforts: At Home in Adams County, an initiative developed and funded by the Adams County Community Foundation and operated by South Central Community Action Programs and Rabbittransit’s collaboration with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation through the Central Pennsylvania Transportation Authority. Our own Adams Economic Alliance, strong partners to all involved, got us all on the same page and headed in the right direction.

The At Home Coalition, which focuses on affordable housing, transportation and economic development, met with Rabbittransit to evaluate the transportation needs for the corridor connecting Gettysburg to Hanover. After several meetings with At Home, the Central Pennsylvania Transportation Authority prepared a $800,000 grant proposal for PennDOT’s consideration.

CPTA was incredibly motivated to collaborate with At Home. At Home’s approach, addressing housing, employment and transportation in an all-inclusive fashion, is unique. While transportation is a barrier, it is rarely the only barrier.

CPTA prepared and submitted the proposal and worked with At Home which worked with commissioners of both Adams and York counties to support the agreement.

Meanwhile, the pressure was on to raise $60,000 in local match dollars to support the project over the next three years.

The Connector was conceived over 10 years ago and moving it along was difficult. Donors understood this and knew this would be venture capital.

In the end, four visionary donors committed a total of $30,000 which was matched with a $30,000 grant made possible through the Community Foundation’s endowment payout late last year. That local match unlocked more than $800,000 in state and federal transportation dollars to run the Connector for three years.

You may never need to get on the bus, but for some people in our community it will be a lifeline to work, school and family. And if that weren’t enough to make you smile, think about this: for some it will be a pathway to new opportunities. They may never know what it took to make it happen, and that’s ok with us.

But the exhilaration of making that happen belongs not just to me, but to every one of the Community Foundation’s hundreds of supporters. This is what community philanthropy can accomplish. And if you ask me, it’s a beautiful thing.

Ralph Serpe is president & CEO of the Adams County Community Foundation. He can be reached at rserpe@adamscountycf.org or 717-337-0060