The Foundation has received a generous financial gift from the estate of Alice Gillisse. Alice and her husband, Ed, lived in downtown New Bern in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Ed was on the Foundation board from 1990 through 1992. Ed had a real love of history and he and Alice were very supportive of NBPF.
Ed and Alice moved to Coatsville, PA, in the mid-’90s. Ed passed in 2011 at the age of 88. Alice passed in 2019 at the age of 97.
The best thing we can do to honor the Gillisses is to use their financial gift to help move the Foundation in some new directions in order to fulfill our mission. First and foremost, this gives us an opportunity to consider funding an executive director’s position.
The Foundation has not had an executive director since the late ’90s. Having one will elevate our preservation efforts to a new level by helping to manage the organization and keep us focused, providing additional fundraising skills, helping to identify and target preservation initiative, and helping to better engage our members and the community.
The Gillisses’ gift also gives us an opportunity to fund some core preservation activities. Instead of simply monitoring key at-risk properties and structures, we may actually be able to take action to help stabilize or purchase some of the properties. Stay tuned as we move forward.