There were 13 people at that first meeting at George Tupper’s home in Summerville, and the message they heard was a simple one: $1,000 a year for five years. That’s all it would take from those assembled to become founders of fund that would work to improve the lives of those in Dorchester County—a fund that’s granted more than $200,000 to nonprofits in the county since.
That first meeting in 2010 was the birth of what became the Dorchester County Fund, which is managed by the Coastal Community Foundation. And it continued what has been a lifelong commitment to philanthropy for Tupper, now 87, who saw the need for a fund dedicated to his native Dorchester County and was a driving force behind making it happen. It started with 13 people in his living room—and by the time the fund was established, it had 154 founders on board.
“I had gone to Beaufort and Georgetown and Berkeley, and saw all of them had people who had committed pretty heavily. In Dorchester County, there really wasn’t anybody to do that,” Tupper recalled. “George Stevens (former CCF president and CEO) helped me, and we spoke to a lot of
different people, and we came up with the idea of, ‘Well, why don’t we ask them to give $1,000 a year for five years, and see how it that works?’ It was amazing to me how many people responded.”
A ‘call to arms’ speech
Starting the Dorchester Fund is just one example of Tupper’s commitment to the Coastal Community Foundation. Tupper was also a longtime board member of the Saul Alexander Foundation, an affiliate foundation of the Coastal Community Foundation, established by Alexander’s will in 1997 to support Jewish causes and general charitable causes in Summerville and Charleston County.
Alexander was a native of Ukraine who emigrated to the United States in 1900 to escape anti-Semitic persecution, and ultimately settled in Summerville. He opened a dry goods store on South Main Street that Tupper remembers visiting as a child. “I would go into the store with my mother from time to time,” Tupper recalled.
It was Tupper’s involvement with the Saul Alexander Foundation that opened his eyes to how a little money could build into a lot. “He didn’t have anybody to leave his money to,” Tupper said of Alexander. So it went to the fund bearing his name, one that started at $500,000 grew into $2.8 million by 2022. “It’s grown tremendously,” Tupper added. “That was what taught me how a little bit of money could grow.”
Which led to the masterstroke in starting the Dorchester County Fund—the request for $1,000 a year for five years. The average endowed fund at the Coastal Community Foundation has a $25,000 threshold to start. By keeping the founder minimum a modest one, Tupper opened up the Dorchester County Fund to far more founders than might have been inclined to get involved otherwise.
“I’ll never forget that first meeting in the Tuppers’ living room, where George issued a ‘call to arms’ to the dozen or so other folks gathered there. Not only did he speak with passion for the compelling community need for the Dorchester County Fund, he also spoke sensibly about how each person had a part to play, breaking down the math in terms of multi-year pledges of support,” said Courtney Fain, director of development at Coastal Community Foundation at the time.
“George was uniquely qualified to lead this campaign. His credibility in the community, his humble leadership, and his tenacity to grow that initial number of 13 investors to 154 founding members over the course of a few months was truly remarkable.”
One generation to the next
The humble Tupper credits his wife Jane, former CCF head Stevens, and others as being instrumental in helping get the Dorchester County Fund get off the ground.
“Everybody seemed to contribute to become a founder,” he recalled. “That’s how it all got started. We had meetings in my house, and it kept growing. The understanding with everybody was that we would give a little bit, and it would go to people in need in Dorchester County. That’s what happened. So it’s been wonderful situation.”
What spurred Tupper’s commitment to philanthropy? His grandfather was a physician, he said, who rode around Summerville in a buggy, sometimes staying out all night to help deliver babies or assist people with some other urgent medical matter. His patients would give what they had, often chickens or bags of potatoes. It all left an impression on the young Tupper, who saw what his grandfather’s actions meant to other people.
Now, Tupper’s passion for philanthropy is being carried on by his children and grandchildren.
“I put a little money down for them to get started, and they’ve picked it up and carried it forward,” he said. “I think they’ve picked it up on their own.”
Tupper’s efforts remain evident in the work of the Dorchester County Fund, which awards grants of up to $5,000 to organizations that serve the county’s residents. Even now, the way in which the fund was widely embraced continues to resonate with him.
“What I’ve learned is, you give a little bit, you get a whole lot,” Tupper said. “It’s amazing what people can do if they’re just willing to give a little bit.”
