Meet Our Donors

The Delany sisters were extraordinary people, living extraordinary lives. In 1994, Sadie and Bessie opened a fund at The New York Community Trust, and today, grants from this fund help “hang a rainbow in the sky” for those striving to improve their lives. Read their story.

“I’m very lucky I can give back. I needed to rewrite my will a few years ago. When I learned about The Trust, it just fell into place for me. My will asks the program staff at The Trust to use our money in perpetuity to help nonprofits that help disadvantaged students when they’re young. That’s where you can make the most impact.” – Kate McLeod. Read her story.

Seeing his first musical on his 8th birthday ignited Doug Jones’ love of theater. To ensure that all young students had the opportunity to experience the same joy, Jones created The Doug Jones and John Sanger Theater Ticket Fund for Greater New York. Read his story.

New York natives Ruth and Gerald Dickler loved the city of their birth, and they believed strongly in helping others. Their passion drove them to create three funds that focused on education, health, and housing.
Read their story.

One day Jadin Wong climbed out her window with a suitcase, and joined the Marx Touring Company. It launched her career as an artist and agent. Her legacy lives on through the Jadin Wong Educational Fund in The New York Community Trust to support aspiring artists, musicians, and dancers of Asian descent.
Read her story.

Audiences at the Public Theater, Lincoln Center, and other prime New York venues might be surprised to learn what they owe to a modest, poetry-loving woman from Ohio who aspired to work in a library. Several of her funds at The Trust ensure New York City has a thriving arts scene. Read her story.

The late theatrical agent Helen Merrill created a fund in The New York Community Trust to carry on her dedication to the creators of theater—playwrights. Read her story.

A Strange Loop by Michael R. Jackson. Photo by Joan Marcus for Playwrights Horizons/Page 73 Productions