Gerus and Blieszner Raise Awareness by Supporting Local Educators

Before Steve Gerus and wife Rosemary Blieszner, the Community Foundation was a philanthropy in name only – a passionate board of directors, a wealth of good intentions, but no established fund for charitable giving.

In June 1996, the Community Foundation was almost four years old, and the board, of which Gerus was a member, was waiting for that first donor to step up and make the founders’ dream a reality.

“Steve came home and said, ‘Somebody has got to start this,’” recalled Blieszner. The following month, the couple gave $10,000 to the foundation to set up the Gerus Blieszner Fund, sparking the Community Foundation to life. By the end of 2007 the foundation had an endowment of over $6 million.

“You have to have that first little nudge to make others aware,” said Blieszner. The Gerus Blieszner Fund awards a $500 grant each year to a special project within any Montgomery County public school. Past recipients have included a Shawsville Elementary School program that encouraged parents to read to children during the summer months; a “lending library” that helped international families living in Blacksburg learn English; and an Auburn Elementary project that used specialized exercise equipment and reading materials to improve children’s literacy.

For Gerus, who has a master’s degree in anthropology and owns Bell Electric in Blacksburg, and Blieszner, Alumini Distinguished Professor of Gerontology at Virginia Tech, education was easily their top choice when they decided to establish the fund. “If we were going to make a commitment in the community,” said Gerus, “we felt that investing in the lives of the young would pay very high dividends.”

They chose the Community Foundation as the vehicle for that commitment because, said Gerus, “We’re just not in the financial position to establish a separate foundation for our philanthropic needs.”