Esther Eure came to the Community Foundation to create a lasting legacy that would benefit Trenton. After retiring from a career as a nurse’s aide in New York City and returning to her hometown, Esther felt a keen desire to help.
“Esther was committed to Trenton,” says Jim Floyd, a founding trustee of the Community Foundation and longtime friend of the Eure family. “She cared deeply for young people in particular. She believed in providing motivation and opportunity.”
Esther’s fund is doing exactly that, even though she passed away in 2008. Her original contribution, still growing, helps Greater Mercer Grants go farther every year.
“Our family was pleasantly surprised to learn about her charitable gift,” says Esther’s great-niece, Geraldine Eure, who lives in Trenton and works as an attorney in New York. “She wasn’t a woman of great means, and no one imagined that Aunt Esther had saved and set aside that money.
“But that’s exactly who she was, a giving person. Esther felt that she could inspire others to give and be optimistic. She believed that an act of generosity is never isolated—that together, we can create a groundswell.”
