Akron Mayor Don Plusquellic offered his congratulations and presented Akron Community Foundation President Jody Bacon with a winter photo of the foundation's logo, the Signal Tree.

"The Signal Tree is unique to this area. Its strong roots represent strength in the community," he said. "(That's) what Akron Community Foundation is all about."

Bacon pointed out that such an achievement couldn't have been possible without what she called the "thousands of people, rich and of modest means," who have contributed to the foundation.

"This is a very special community populated with people who give of self, time and treasures," she said. "The payback is seeing the results of the grants," past recipients of which include Say Yes to Tennis, the Akron Art Museum, Open M and the City of Akron's Neighborhood Partnership program.

FirstMerit Bank underwrote the event. Attendees included past foundation president Ann Amer Brennan, Judge James Williams, Judge Carla Moore and Deputy Mayor Dave Lieberth. Also present were Paul and John Frank, sons of founding trustee Paul A. Frank, and Mary Chapman, daughter of founding trustee J. P. Seiberling and granddaughter of Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company founder Frank Seiberling.

A posthumous visit by former industrialist and local philanthropist Edwin Shaw came in the form of Actors' Summit Artistic Director Neil Thackaberry. Shaw's $1 million bequest established the foundation on June 8, 1955 "to meet the changes in the community needs brought about by the passage of time and the variance in circumstances."

Akron Community Foundation is a $116.6 million philanthropic endowment with a growing family of more than 260 affiliate funds. Since its establishment in 1955, the foundation has worked to improve the quality of life in Greater Akron with the support of charitable gifts and bequests from individuals, families, organizations and corporations committed to making a difference in the community for generations to come. To date, the foundation and its affiliate funds have distributed more than $50 million in grants to qualified nonprofit organizations in Summit County.