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In honor of Clyde W. Snyder

A foundation his grandchildren will write together.

The CWS Foundation is a planned nonprofit set up by the grandchildren of Clyde W. Snyder. They will write its mission together and vote on it every year.

  • PlannedFirst funding in 2028
  • DesignedAnnual mission vote
How the mission gets writtenThe trust’s commitment

What it will be

Cast by the family, not handed down.

  • Written by his grandchildren

    No one is writing the mission for them. Clyde’s grandchildren gather the ideas, draft the words and decide together what the foundation is for.

    Designed

  • Renewed every year

    Each year the grandchildren vote on the mission and the year’s priorities, so the foundation grows with the people who carry it.

    Designed

  • Funded for the long run

    The 2023 CWS Family Trust has committed annual, ongoing funding beginning in 2028.

    Planned

The line to 2028

From the dock to the first cast.

  1. 2023

    The family trust is created

    The 2023 CWS Family Trust is created and named for Clyde W. Snyder.

    Live
  2. 2026

    The foundation is planned

    The foundation is planned, and cws.foundation is set aside as its home.

    Live
  3. Before 2028

    The first mission is drafted

    Ideas are gathered and the first mission is drafted, discussed and put to a vote.

    Designed
  4. 2028

    First funding and first vote

    Annual, ongoing funding from the trust begins, alongside the first annual vote on the mission.

    Planned

How the mission gets written

Five steps, every year.

The same cycle runs each year, so every grandchild has a voice and the mission never goes stale.

  1. Gather

    Every grandchild is invited to share what they believe the foundation should care about, and why.

  2. Draft

    Grandchildren who volunteer turn those ideas into a draft mission and a short list of priorities.

  3. Discuss

    The draft goes to every grandchild. They comment, argue kindly and suggest changes before anything is final.

  4. Vote

    The grandchildren vote on the mission and the year’s priorities. The rules for who votes and how are theirs to set.

  5. Publish

    The adopted mission is published here, dated, beside the ones from earlier years.

Read the whole process
Clyde W. Snyder on a boat on the lake, smiling in a bucket hat and sunglasses, holding a fishing rod bent under a catch.
Clyde W. Snyder, out on the lake.

Why it bears his name

Clyde W. Snyder, 1933–2022

Clyde was an artist and a teacher. He taught art at Pinebrook Junior College in Coopersburg, Pennsylvania, and served as an elder of the Bible Fellowship Church for sixty years.

He held his faith dear, and he loved his children, grandchildren, family and friends whoever they called their God.

Money was never the point for him. Fishing trips, full tables at family gatherings and showing up for other people were.

The foundation begins where he did: with the people around the table, and the time spent on the water together.

Where the grandchildren may begin

Helping people find their way back.

The family’s trust also considers support each year for people leaving cults and high-control groups, and for others in need.

The grandchildren may choose to take up that work here. It is only a starting point: the mission is theirs to write.

Part of Clyde’s family?

The family trust’s portal, where relatives sign in, plan together and help write the family’s values, lives at cws.family.

Go to cws.family