Our History

About the Foundation

Welcome.

Since Pfaffinger Foundation was established in 1936, we have honored men and women who have devoted much of their careers to the newspaper industry. We are here to assist eligible employees, former employees, and retirees of those newspapers and the other businesses that were part of the former Times Mirror company.

As the newspaper industry has gone into a steep decline in the past decade, the need for our assistance has grown.

Many people who expected to finish their careers at a newspaper have found themselves with their hours reduced, being laid off, or taking early retirement. Not yet able to afford to retire, they have discovered how hard it is to make ends meet. We are here to provide assistance, support and resources to navigate through difficult times.

The Foundation has provided grants to local nonprofits since 1958. We continue to support nonprofits that provide case management services, job training, safety net resources and older adult programs. In 2001, the Foundation created the Working Poor Program, now called the Family Self-Sufficiency Initiative. Through this special initiative, we partner with selected local nonprofit organizations to provide small grants for families identified by the organizations’ case managers as experiencing a hardship that could be overcome with our financial assistance.