CUMBERLAND — Several organizations in Allegany and Mineral counties are joining forces to provide greater service than the sum of their parts.

The Community Trust Foundation, United Way, and YMCA have come together to purchase a bus for the YMCA that will be used by youths from both Mineral and Allegany counties. Officials from the organizations, including foundation board member Dr. Wayne Spiggle, foundation founding board president Dr. Peter Halmos, foundation Executive Director Trish Yoder and Cumberland YMCA CEO Ken Barnes, met Wednesday at the YMCA Riverside Recreation Center to commemorate the event, the first collaboration between these organizations.

The bus will be the primary vehicle used by the YMCA to transport young people to activities and events, including those sponsored by the Boy Scouts, Salvation Army and the Cumberland Department of Parks and Recreation.

“The CTF is just up and running but it’s already done a wonderful job,” said Spiggle. “This is an example of our communities coming together across county boundaries to do the right thing.”

The Community Trust Foundation, which was founded in 2006 and expanded to include Mineral County in August 2009, is a philanthropic organization that serves Allegany, Mineral and Garrett counties by providing funding for nonprofit organizations. Organizations can apply to the foundation for support via grant requests. The board of trustees handles the allocation of funding.

Grants have been given to organizations and events such as the Family Crisis Resource Center, the Mountain Maryland Marathon and Symphony Saturdays.

The foundation's assets have been increasing despite the economic downturn. In September, the foundation worked with the state Department of Aging to form a job development and training program.

For the bus purchase, the Community Trust Foundation provided $3,600 to the County United Way, consisting of $3,000 from the West Virginia Grantmakers Association and $600 from the foundation’s own Halmos Community Fund. The United Way then gave this money to the YMCA in response to a grant request to purchase the van.

“This is an example of how community foundations ultimately work effectively in a region,” said Yoder. “We have organizations from both (counties) involved under two funding avenues. The Community Trust Foundation was the conduit that allowed the state and county barriers to be lifted for the betterment of the region.”

Contact Cory Galliher at cgalliher@times-news.com.