Fagaras County Community Foundation

The purpose of a community foundation is to coordinate, develop, improve, propose and support activities for as many beneficiaries as possible from within the community. The Tara Fagarasului Community Foundation is focusing in the next 3 to 7 years, according to the foundation’s Development Strategy, mainly on the following areas of intervention: environment, education and entrepreneurship. 

Projects:

Bikeathon Țara Făgărașului

A moment of hope and celebration for the unity of body and soul of the entire community, with thousands of beneficiaries, volunteers and supporters, large and small, waiting every year to come together and give a new meaning, along with other kind people, to community development.

Its impact can be translated into 7 years of collaboration, mobilizing resources, coordination, impactful local initiatives, and good practices and perseverance within and for the community.

Stiintescu Fund
Stiintescu Fund is an educational program, designed to encourage a passionate approach towards science and technology for pupils aged 6 to 19.

Here at FCTF we believe that the quality of education is important for the future of our community. This way, through the Stiintescu Fund, we have invested over 60.000 $ and brought together more than 50 local leaders and 327 pupils, that implemented so far 35 projects and that help transform education and the way youth think about STEM subjects.

Științescu Program started in 2016 and was implemented by FCTF in collaboration with  FFCR and with support from the Romanian-American Foundation and other local sponsors.

YouthBank - Shaping the future one day at a time.

Because YouthBank is about a future that is built by the young people who understand both the challenges and the resources present in the community. For youth to be able to choose wisely for themselves and for the future of our communities, they first need to grow, personally and professionally, by getting involved in their communities. YouthBank Făgăraș is offering the necessary experiences,  freedom, and framework so that local youth can grow and become engaged and responsible adults. 

Since 2013 FCTF has collaborated with 137 students from all the high schools within the area and financed through YouthBank up to 48 projects, thus involving thousands of young participants. 

We strongly believe in this program because every year we see how much of a difference it makes for the youth in Țara Făgărașului to have such practical learning opportunities that are well connected to local realities. 

Țara Fagarasului is at HOME! Fund - Belonging as engagement

We launched this Fund in 2017, aiming to build ways in which those who left the community can, nevertheless, stay in contact and achieve impact in the region.. 

The impact we seek to achieve through this initiative is to build  different ways in which we can function as a community, from wherever we are - in order to provide support for those who continue their lives in the local communities, like the elders or the children and to develop a better and more inspired community for learning and follow good examples from other countries. The goal is also to create a local system, for those who chose to return to Țara Făgărașului or even to ensure that those who visit us and have a positive experience.

The recent history of Țara Făgărașului, generated a community that can be seen as  transnational. Lots of people moved to other cities or abroad and therefore we have this need to stick together as a unified community even when we are miles apart from each other. To address this, the “Țara Fagarasului is HOME!” Fund is proposing two pilot projects, for diaspora to come together and help improve the quality of green open spaces in the region, and also, to create support services for the elders.

Together for health! The Emergency Fund

Good health is at the core of any functional community. Therefore, even since we were founded, we considered health a priority and from 2013, we have been supporting initiatives that generated donations towards the municipal hospital’s pediatrics, neurologic and surgery departments. 

This year brought along an exceptional situation throughout the world. A very special moment for us all happened when we realised that the mechanism put in place by the FCTF proved its utility. The “Together for health COVID-19” fund was created to help the hospital, the paramedic assistants, the firemen, volunteers and family doctors face the challenges of the pandemic. Between March and June, we mobilised with help from the community and other sponsors over 90.000 USD which were then invested in acquiring medical equipment and protective gear.

BILKA scholarship fund - For Education in Tara Fagarasului

Through the “BILKA scholarship fund - For education in Tara Fagarasului“ we offer a chance to young students with financial difficulties to become proactive individuals within our community. 

We accomplish this by supporting children and youth, both financially and through mentoring.

Education itself as well as access to it represent the foundation for a developed community and also a significant challenge for the whole area. 

Since 2013, FCTF is offering scholarships that build up confidence and motivate children and young students within the area: e.g.  The “Fight against school abandonment” scholarship fund was established in 2015.

“I have managed to cut down on my family’s expenses by paying for my own transportation to and from the school and also for clothing and footwear.”(Ionuţ) “This scholarship has encouraged me to keep my grades up for four years.”(Bianca)

The Fund for supporting initiative groups and community leaders

For the last seven years, we have been discovering and mobilizing resources from within the community in order to help develop a social responsibility and philanthropy sector  and to turn ideas into results and bring people together to create a better society.

Over 350 grants have been offered for community development in various fields such as: education, health, sport, culture and arts, democracy and civic participation, social inclusion, environment and biodiversity, public and community spaces.  

Projects or initiatives we have supported: Urlea Eco Trail Run – Țara Făgărașului Sports Club;  the Group for initiatives and handmade gatherings Făgăraș; Summer Camp – Mândra Chic; The Făgăraș Research Institute , The Mihai și Maria Frățilă Foundation, 11even Făgăraș, Reconstruction of Urlea Cottage – Tails from the Carpathians Association, Basketball field between buildings – Initiative group „Dăruiește bucurii“.

The Endowment Fund for Tara Fagarasului Country 

Until now, in Romania, projects for community development have only been funded through donations and sponsorships so we would like to bring in a new and innovative mechanism - to create an Endowment fund - to help us support this kind of projects in a permanent manner. 

This is what The Endowment Fund for Făgărașului Country should accomplish - sustain leaders and organisations in a continuous way and help them find solutions for the local challenges, while  having the courage not only to believe in a better community, but to actually build one.

The amounts we raise through donations will be triple matched by the Romanian American-Foundation and Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, a program coordinated at a national level by the Foundation for Partnership. 

The above mentioned foundations will triple all donations up to 90.000 USD, thus making it possible to reach 270.000 USD.

These financial resources are not spent but they are invested continuously in order to generate a continuous stream of revenue, for the benefit of the community. 

The Fagarasului County Community Foundation will utilise the resources resulting from the annual interest to further sustain the local community through grant and scholarship programs as well as to ensure the sustainability of the Foundation.