Walter Cerf Community Fund
The Walter Cerf Community Fund awards grants focused on education, historic preservation, and social services in Addison County, the Town of Brandon, and to organizations serving a statewide constituency.
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courtesy of Brandon Public Library
At his death in 2001, a permanent endowment, the Walter Cerf Community Fund, was established at the Vermont Community Foundation. The Fund makes grants annually in Walter’s name and will continue the generosity of this remarkable man in perpetuity.
Walter Cerf was born in Leipzig, Germany in 1907. The son of a successful businessman, he spent most of his youth in Berlin. He attended university in Freiburg, Heidelburg, and elsewhere before being awarded his Ph.D. in philosophy at Princeton University. After becoming a United States citizen, he served in military intelligence with the 35th Infantry Division in Europe during World War II. For his service, he was awarded the Bronze Star. In 1947, he began a twenty-five year career as a Professor of Philosophy at Brooklyn College. He retired to his summer home in Leicester, Vermont, in 1972.
Although his father’s business, Gesellschaft für Eigentumsschutz, a night security agency, was expropriated by the Nazis in 1938, one-half of the company was returned to the family after World War II. In 1987, Mr. Cerf sold his interest in the company. During the last twenty years of his life, Walter Cerf made gifts exceeding $10 million to more than 100 different organizations in Vermont. At his death in 2001, a permanent endowment, the Walter Cerf Community Fund, was established at the Vermont Community Foundation. The Fund makes grants annually in Walter’s name and will continue the generosity of this remarkable man in perpetuity.
Program Guidelines
How will the funds be allocated?
Who is eligible to apply?
What size are the grants?
Deadline and Notification
Application Process
Contact Us
Contact Us
With questions about the Walter Cerf Community Fund and its grant program, please contact Jane Mulcahy.
