Fairport, NY.  Trail Town USA.  A revitalized Main Street with an iconic lift bridge.  A live music and restaurant destination.  Home to the acclaimed Fairport Music Festival and Canal Days.  The Cannery.  The fourth hottest real estate market in the U.S.  Outstanding schools.  Amazing parks.  Year-round family activities.  Fairport and Perinton are an ideal place to live, to work, to play. 

Yet even with all these wonderful assets, our community stands tall for primarily one reason…its vibrant spirit.  The Fairport community spirit is all round us.  It is in the faces and the hearts of our service groups who generously volunteer their time, our dedicated teachers and students, our elected officials, our friendly merchants, our many valued seniors, our busy families.  Our community spirit…our Raider Spirit… is exceptional, its fabric woven and strengthened over many years by those who care for one another and their community.  This has been our tradition, this will be our future.

Our Foundation

There is so much that makes Fairport unique, including its very own Foundation.  We are likely one of the smallest communities in the country to have one.  The Fairport Foundation connects donors with community needs.  For many years it was mostly dormant, existing only on paper (thanks to the foresight of a community leader).  But a few years ago, it was dusted off, refreshed and revitalized by community volunteers who saw its immediate promise and future potential.  

 The Foundation has been focused on providing community initiatives and projects with non-profit charitable status so they are more easily able to raise funds.  For example, it served as the charitable vehicle for those who supported the construction of the new skate park and the enhancements for Railroad Street Artworks, our amazing new art gallery.

The next step for our Foundation is to proactively make grants to groups that make a difference in our community.  Our Fairport Spirit campaign will raise $500,000 so that we can make this happen!  Donors will have four giving options:

• The Raider Endowment Fund –an unrestricted endowment fund to meet our community’s changing needs far into the future.  A fund such as this could have provided emergency shelter and clothing for the 170 Evergreen East residents who were displaced by a fire in January 2022.

• The Fund for Kids – a fund designated to help support our children. This fund will support needs like academic scholarships, school supplies and recreation programs.

• The Fund for Seniors – a fund designated for assisting our seniors.  A fund like this could have assisted the many seniors who were unexpectedly and hurriedly asked to leave their apartments at The Northfield this summer after the owner went bankrupt.  Many were left with no place to live.

• The Fund for Arts & Music – a fund that will promote our vibrant arts and music scene.  The Foundation has already supported our new art gallery, but so many other arts and cultural initiatives could become a reality with a dedicated fund.

Donors will also have the ability to have a fund named in honor or in memory of a loved one (or themselves) with a pledge of $20,000 or more.  Those giving $10,000 or more will be named on a colorful “Fairport Wall of Fame” in the village when the campaign concludes. Pledges can be fulfilled with multiple payments over two years.

We hope that you will join us on this exciting journey!  Our Fairport Spirit will shine brightly as we embrace this opportunity as one community.  Together, we will make Fairport an even more wonderful place to live, work, and play.

"Fairport Foundation, Inc., a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization, serves as the fiscal sponsor for the Fairport Spirit Campaign and retains full control and discretion over all contributions it receives.  While we strive to honor donor intent, contributions are used at our discretion to support our charitable mission in accordance with IRS regulations."