Frederick County Gives: Partnering for a better quality of life

After Charles Worthington “Chipper” Hoff IV became president of Farmers and Mechanics Bank in 1977, he quickly became involved in some of the community’s largest and most active organizations.

Owing in part to his enthusiasm for and involvement in his adopted hometown of Frederick, Chipper was also one of the first people to whom Don Linton and the late Charlie Main reached out in 1986 when they decided to try to form a community foundation here in Frederick County.

The consultant who addressed the group said it would take a minimum of $1 million to start a community foundation, recalls Chipper, thinking that would be enough to deter the group. Undaunted, they created the entity and began raising money. By the following year, they had amassed more than $500,000 in gifts and pledges; less than a year later, the group reached its goal of $1 million.

For the next 30 years, Chipper and his wife, Peggy, have been active volunteers and donors at the Community Foundation. In 2006, they created the Charles W. Hoff III and Margaret O. Hoff Family Fund. The fund was created as a “donor-advised” fund, meaning that Chipper and Peggy recommend to the board of trustees how the annual distribution is used for grantmaking.

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Source: Frederick News-Post