Buffalo nonprofits are among 82 organizations across the upstate region that will benefit from $360 million in grants from B. Thomas Golisano, entrepreneur and founder of Rochester-based Paychex.
The grants — all unrestricted — will be distributed over four to five years to organizations in the health care, education, intellectual and developmental disabilities, general community and animal welfare sectors. Among the big winners: Niagara University and the Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center, which received $10 million and apiece.
Golisano has been a longtime supporter of projects in the region, with past gifts to Niagara University and Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center, including a 2019 commitment of $1.5 million to support a joint oncology program at Niagara Falls Memorial; and a $3.5 million gift that funded the hospital's Golisano Center for Community Health; plus $10 million to the university, which funded the B. Thomas Golisano Center for Integrated Sciences.
Golisano grew emotional as he announced the grantees – “You can’t take it with you,” he said during his announcement — in a mid-morning news conference that was broadcast live online, with dozens of recipients crossing a dais to receive envelopes.
“Take this new resource and be productive with it – and we’ll be watching,” he said jokingly.
- In the area of health care, Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center and the John R. Oishei Children’s Hospital will receive $10 million apiece, while Mercy Flight will receive $5 million. The largest grant awarded was $20 million to Rochester Regional Medical Center.
- In the education category, Niagara University will receive $10 million, while SUNY Alfred State (Golisano’s alma mater), Daemen University and Canisius University will receive $5 million each.
- The following organizations that serve people with intellectual and developmental disabilities – one of the Golisano Foundation’s main focus areas – were tapped for $5 million apiece: Heritage Christian Services, People Inc. and the Summit Center, as well as ARC affiliate chapters in Allegany, Erie and the GLOW region.
- In the animal welfare sector, another focus of the foundation, local grantees receiving $1.5 million each include Chautauqua County Humane Society, SPCA Cattaraugus, SPCA Allegany, the SPCA Serving Erie County and the Wyoming County SPCA, while the Joyful Rescue group received $250,000.
Golisano also announced he will be doubling the endowment of the Golisano Family Foundation to $120 million, enabling the organization to double its annual grant-making for IDD and animal welfare causes. Since it was established in 1985, the foundation has awarded more than $41 million in the upstate region and in Southwest Florida, where he said another event will be held in the near future to announce additional grants.