Not long ago, the staff at Mountaineer Food Bank in Gassaway worked four days a week collecting and distributing food for nearly 500 feeding programs in 48 counties.

Today, they work five days a week thanks in part to a new program that involves collecting food from 132 retail outlets across the state, said Carla Nardella, executive director.

"It's healthier food," she said. "We collect produce, meat and bakery goods."

The program is run by a new member of the food bank's staff -- one of three new employees hired thanks to a grant from the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation. It is the latest in a long line of grants the Pittsburgh-based organization has awarded to Mountaineer over the years.

"Their support made it possible," Nardella said. "... I'm not sure where we'd be without them."

This year, the Benedum Foundation celebrates its 65th anniversary and observes the 50th anniversary of the death of founder Michael L. Benedum. The Bridgeport native who headquartered his oil and gas business in Pittsburgh had a long history of philanthropy and established the organization to give back to the community.

Mountaineer Food Bank is but one entry on a long list of charities that have benefited from Benedum grants over the years. Each year, the Foundation distributes two-thirds of its grant money to West Virginia charities and one-third to charities in southwestern Pennsylvania, said Pat Getty, president.

"We've been thinking a lot about Michael Benedum this year," he said. "This is the 50th anniversary of his death. ... Our annual report this year will feature an article about him and his values. ... He has a lot to teach us today."

Charitable Focus

Benedum and his wife, Sarah, established the foundation in 1944 and named it in honor of their late son, Claude Worthington Benedum, who had died in 1918 at the age of 20. At first, the organization focused on educational scholarships, Getty said.

Over the years, the focus has shifted. Today, West Virginia grant projects must be in one of five areas: education, economic development, civic engagement, health and human services, community development.

"He left the foundation flexible so it could change with the times and conditions," Getty said. "He wisely predicted that change would be necessary."

One change is the Foundation's current focus on economic development related to technology. That has helped organizations like TechConnect West Virginia, said Kevin DiGregorio, executive director.

"We focus on advanced technology-based economic development around the state," he said. "... Our whole effort was started by Benedum."

In fact, one of the Foundation's staff members in West Virginia, Mary Hunt-Leiving, is a member of the TechConnect board of directors, DiGregorio said.

Although that arrangement may be atypical, Benedum does maintain a continued interest in the projects it funds, said Judy Sjostedt, executive director of Our Community's Foundation in Parkersburg.

"One unique thing about the Benedum Foundation is that they're not just a funding source," she said. "They have a history of standing behind programs. The Benedum Foundation realizes that it takes more than just a year to get a new program off the ground."

That is especially true in today's economy. The recession has taken a toll on nonprofits and charities of all types, including the Benedum Foundation, Getty said.

Challenging Times

In 2007, the Benedum Foundation listed total assets in excess of $450 million. Each year, the foundation is required by federal law to donate at least 5 percent of that amount to charity.

This year, however, the amount donated will be down from previous years, Getty said.

"(The recession) put us back to where we were 10, 11 or 12 years ago," he said. "We're trying to be careful as we figure it out."

In recent years, Benedum has granted nearly $20 million per year to charities in West Virginia and Pennsylvania, Getty said. This year, he projected the figure will be a little more than $13 million.

The decline came as a result of the drastic drop in the stock market during the latter half of 2008 and the first part of this year, Getty said. The Foundation has a portfolio with a mix of various investments, including stocks. In 2007, Benedum listed more than $51 million in net investment income.

And the recession is a double-edged sword for charitable organizations, Getty said. At a time when foundations have taken a hit in the markets, demands for their services are increasing.

Still, the Foundation has persevered, Getty said. So far, 2009 has been a good year.

"Fortunately, this year has been terrific," he said.

As of July 31, the total asset value was $321,570,218, according to information from Benedum. Although down from previous years, that figure is higher than the year-end numbers for 2008.

Impact

And that is good news for everybody from those at Mountaineer Food Bank to the staff at the West Virginia Housing Development Fund. The Housing Fund has received a lot of assistance from the Benedum Foundation over the years, said Joe Hatfield, executive director.

"They've helped around West Virginia on a wide variety of things," he said. "They've helped us with construction and development. They've helped local nonprofits to get the education and training they need to handle complicated federal grants. The federal process is complicated. They want to make sure (nonprofits) are able to function in their system."

That is part of a new effort to help West Virginia nonprofits be more competitive for federal stimulus money, Getty said.

"We want to help West Virginia take advantage of stimulus funding," he said. "(Stimulus grants) have short deadlines. We have an opportunity to help people get their applications on file."

Much of Benedum's focus in recent years has been helping Mountain State nonprofits develop their own sources of funding, said Shannon Cunningham, president of West Virginia Grantmakers Association, a central philanthropic resource center for the nonprofit community.

"They want to inspire others to give," she said. "They want to help built more philanthropy in West Virginia. They have helped grow community foundations and helped nonprofits learn how to fundraise. A lot of small ones need that kind of help."

Thanks to Benedum grant money, Our Community's Foundation has been able in recent years to develop affiliate sites in Doddridge, Jackson, Mason and Ritchie counties and a fifth serving Wirt and Calhoun counties, Sjostedt said.

"We've really grown during that time," she said. "We had $7.6 million in assets in 1999 and have $23 million today."

Benedum is the largest private funding organization in West Virginia, Cunningham said. Nearly 20 percent of all foundation grants in the state come from Benedum. West Virginia Grantmakers itself was founded with the help of Benedum money, she said.

Eye on the Future

Although Benedum funds a wide range of projects, the organization looks for those that have the broadest reach, Getty said.

"We look for projects that will have an impact across a whole area of activity," he said. "We look for organizations with good collaborative and cooperative skills -- organizations that value cooperation. ... We can stretch our impact that way."

One such organization is the Collaborative for the 21st Century Appalachia, which was founded in 2006 with Benedum grant money. That nonprofit organization focuses on connecting farmers with local restaurants interested in using locally grown foods, said Allen Arnold, director. Benedum money recently was used to produce the brochure, "101 Unique Places to Dine in West Virginia."

"(The West Virginia Division of) Tourism paid for printing, but we did the work of putting it all together," he said. "It wouldn't have happened without the Benedum Foundation."

The Foundation also has supported the Collaborative's Web site and other initiatives over the years, Arnold said.

"What they've done is help connect the farmer to the public and the farmer to the chefs," he said.

The Benedum Foundation hopes to change West Virginia into a more prosperous place with grants to organizations like the Collaborative, Getty said.

As for the future of the Foundation itself, Getty said he doesn't see any drastic changes on the horizon.

"I've been here 11 years, and the grants process is different but the grants program is still the same," he said. "In 10 years, I would say we'll see about the same amount of change. We'll probably still have the same focus, but we'll probably do things in different ways."