When the Village of Corona received funding for a mini excavator through the Tri-County Community Fund, it may have looked like a simple equipment purchase. In reality, it represented something much bigger: a community’s ability to respond to local needs with care, dignity, and practical solutions.
For years, certain areas of the community cemetery were difficult to access using the village’s larger backhoe. Families saying goodbye to a loved one sometimes faced limitations that local staff simply could not overcome with the equipment on hand. The new mini excavator changed that.
“It’s a really big deal for us because there’s certain spots we haven’t been able to access with our backhoe,” said Corona Public Works Director Seth Gray. “With the mini excavator, we are more attentive to the needs of a family when burying their loved ones.”
That is the power of local philanthropy. Sometimes impact looks like a scholarship, a museum program, or an emergency alert system. Sometimes it looks like a piece of equipment that helps a community care for its residents during some of life’s most difficult moments.
Established by the Tri-County Community Group and held at the New Mexico Community Foundation, the Tri-County Community Fund supports small, community-based projects across Guadalupe, Lincoln, and Torrance counties. Made possible through generous funding from Pattern Energy’s Western Spirit Wind Projects, the fund demonstrates what can happen when local leadership and statewide partnership come together around a shared vision for community well-being.
The fund’s advisory committee works closely with NMCF to identify projects that address priorities determined by local residents themselves. The result is a grantmaking approach rooted in trust, local knowledge, and practical impact.
In Corona alone, funding has strengthened community infrastructure and opportunity through an emergency alert system, tourism promotion efforts, support for the Corona Museum of Frontier Life, a Summer Science Camp for local students, and assistance for a new early childhood center. Each project responds to a different need, but all share a common goal: helping residents build a stronger future for their community.
Across the broader region, the fund has supported preservation of cultural and archaeological resources through the Torrance County Archaeological Society, leadership development through the Mountainair Rotary Club’s James Hayes Memorial Scholarship banquet and RYLA camp, public art and placemaking through the Village of Corona Mainstreet beautification project, and enhanced emergency services through EMS Chief training for Mountainair Fire and Rescue.
Taken together, these investments reveal the true impact of the Tri-County Community Fund. They strengthen the systems that help rural communities thrive: education, public safety, economic development, culture, leadership, and community care. The mini excavator in Corona is one example among many, but it serves as a powerful reminder that meaningful change is often found in practical solutions that improve everyday life.
From honoring loved ones with dignity to preparing children for the future, the Tri-County Community Fund is helping rural communities create the future they envision for themselves. One grant. One project. One community at a time.
Interested in creating a fund in your community? Visit our website, call 505.820.6860, or email Janice Morrow at jmorrow@nmcf.org.