The numbers of almost 30 years tell the story of Mary Holmes, who has led the Cumberland Community Foundation as its president and chief executive officer since 1997.
In those three decades, the nonprofit’s assets have grown from $7.2 million to $175 million.
And you can take it from Ricky Lopes Jr. what Holmes has meant to the foundation, which was founded in 1980 by the late Lucile West Hutaff. The Fayetteville native donated stock valued at $576,840 with a dream of encouraging others in this community to help improve the quality of life for all.
“She is really the face of the foundation,” Lopes, 66, chair of the foundation board of directors, said Wednesday about Holmes. “When you think of the foundation today, the first name that comes up is Mary.”
Holmes, who plans to retire in March, will beg to differ.
The foundation is not about her three decades.
It’s about Lucile Hutaff.
“The founding gift of $576,000 was unrestricted, so she trusted this community and turned it over to invest back into the community,” said Holmes, 68. “That was the most selfless act of leadership I have ever heard of. It meant the income would be used for the best project of that year, and it set the tone for the foundation.”
It’s about Mary Lynn Bryan, who promised a dying Lucile Hutaff on a morning walk along Winterlochen Road on June 30, 1987, that she would continue to see the foundation always would flourish and be a part of this community.
“I want you to do this for me,” Hutaff told Bryan. “And for this community.”
Lucile West Hutaff died at age 75 on July 1, 1987, a day after her plea and Mary Lynn Bryan’s promise.
“The Cumberland Community Foundation would never have made it without Mary Lynn,” Holmes said.
Nor would the foundation be what it is today, Holmes said, without what she long has described as a giving community from all walks of life.
“People across the state are always amazed at what we’re able to accomplish in Cumberland County,” Holmes said. “The philanthropy in our community is able to raise money for causes far beyond what people would expect us to be able to, and it’s because the people here are very generous, and I always thought that. People in Cumberland County care about their neighbors to improve the quality of life for everyone.”
Holmes likely will tell you the Cumberland Community Foundation is about people like Wes and Lucy Jones, Gail Riddle, Larry Bass Jr., Vera Bell, Mac Healy, Brian Pearce, Kelly Puryear, Bruce Dantzler, Carol Dickey, Wilhelmena Sapp, Emily Schaefer, Brenda Sparks, Jabbar Surles, Lockett Tally, Joe Vonnegut Max Weinstein, Susan Barnes and the late Bob Ray, the late Harvey Oliver Jr., the late Bobby McCoy, the late Mary Ann McCoy, the late Rosa Torrey, and so many others who believed in what the foundation could be.
And the late Robert Short, who left a $10 million endowment for high school students to pursue their college dreams.
“In May, we awarded $1.1 million in scholarships, and a lot of that growth came from the gift of Robert Short,” Holmes said. “The rest of that growth came from retired teachers, who wanted to help somebody else go to college. But because of one really big gift from Mr. Short, a lot of other people were creating endowments in memory of loved ones.”
Endowments and gift donations benefit countless organizations and nonprofits throughout the community to include everything from health, children, senior citizens, the arts, the environment, and historic preservation.
“You can support any charitable concept,” Holmes said.
The Mentor Behind Holmes
Holmes succeeded Aline Lambert as president and CEO of the foundation. A 1980 graduate of Wake Forest University with a 1990 master’s from the University of North Carolina Kenan-Flagler Business School and later a commercial bank executive, Holmes first interviewed with Mary Lynn Bryan, who twice had served as board chair.
“We talked about what the foundation was and what the possibilities were in this community,” Holmes said.
She later interviewed with the full board, which included folks like Ellie Fleishman, Naomi Ellison, Bob Ray, and Wes and Lucy Jones.
Whatever it was, Mary Lynn Bryan saw something in Mary Holmes, who was a hometown woman and knew this community and its people.
Other board members saw what Holmes could be for the foundation, too.
Bryan became her mentor.
“Mary Lynn came from the foundation world of Chicago,” Holmes said. “Bob Ray, he was great. Bob Ray helped me so much in my role at the foundation, especially early on. He was just really a great help.”
When it comes to this community, the Cumberland Community Foundation has been here for whatever the call under Mary Holmes’ leadership.
It was there when Hurricane Matthew’s flooding took its toll, raising $379,783.43 within 24 hours by establishing its Hurricane Relief & Recovery Fund. It raised an estimated $400,000 during the 2020 coronavirus health pandemic for emergency grants. Its annual GivingTuesday campaign has raised $14,797,455 since 2020, including $4.1 million in nine days in 2025. The foundation has supported the Methodist University Cape Fear Valley Health School of Medicine with $1 million, the remodeling of the Cape Fear Regional Theatre with $500,000, a recent $500,000 endowment for Cape Fear Botanical Garden and in 2024 the Cumberland County Council on Older Adults with $120,000 for the Cornelia Bullock Wilkins Senior Information Hub.
“I’ve been at the foundation so long people sometimes give me credit for things that have happened,” Holmes said, “but it really all goes back to Dr. Hutaff and Mary Lynn Bryan that we have a community foundation.”
But like Lucile Hutaff and Mary Lynn Bryan, Mary Holmes will leave behind a legacy of her own come March.
“We will miss her wisdom, her kindness, her striving for excellence, her incredible leadership and her love for Cumberland County,” said Maddie Kellogg, 32, who is director of donor services for the foundation. “We are going to miss a lot about Mary Holmes.”
Search for New Leader
Now, the search is on for her successor.
“We’re not going to find another Mary Holmes, and so we have to find somebody that has some of her characteristics that can continue the good work that’s going on, but the hard part is going to get people to realize there’s not going to be another Mary Holmes,” Lopes said. “She’s done so much over the years and had different hats as far as the responsibilities. We have a pretty good cross representation on the search committee, so I’m pleased with that, so I think the people are willing to work to find the person that can fill her shoes, and that’s all we can ask.”
Emily Schaefer will chair the search committee, which includes Bruce Dantzler, John “Mac”Healy, former Cumberland County Chief District Court Judge Beth Keever, Kelly Puryear, Gail Riddle, Brenda Sparks, Max Weinstein, and Lopes.
“I would echo Ricky,” Schaefer, 56, said about Holmes’s successor. “Mary has some big shoes to fill. She grew up here. She totally knows the community. It will be hard to find someone with her knowledge, expertise, and financial skills. We have hired a nationwide search firm. This was a day we all knew was coming. We knew this would be hard. Mary has put together a great group down here, and they all think so much of Mary. It’s just the trust and respect the staff have in Mary. She is such a good leader because she trusts them in their jobs.”
Schaefer said the search committee hopes to have a new president and CEO by January.
“Mary could be there for the transition,” she said. “We want to do our absolute best to find the perfect fit.”
‘Foundation Is in Great Shape’
There is a time for every season in life, and Mary Holmes said the season has come for her to devote more time to her husband, grown children, grandchildren, do some traveling, catch up on her reading, and enjoy family gatherings at Long Beach in Brunswick County.
“I have a cute husband, who’s been retired for five years, and I want to do stuff with him,” she said. “We have four children who are spread all over the East Coast, and I want to visit with them a little more. We have cute grandchildren, and I want to do a lot more babysitting. The foundation is in great shape. We have a really strong team.”
Mary Holmes has been the heartbeat of the Cumberland Community Foundation for three decades.
“I believe in community foundations,” she said. “I have met the nicest and most wonderful people, and a lot of people interacting with the Cumberland Community Foundation every day. The most wonderful people are involved in our work—donors, volunteers, staff members, and nonprofit organizations—and it really lifts your spirits to see how many people are working to make the world a better place.”
And this community a better place, too.
Epilogue
“It’s my honor to serve at the Cumberland Community Foundation,” she said, “and it’s been a wonderful career.”
Mary Moorman Holmes is the eternal optimist when it comes to Cumberland County, and the generosity of its people.
“The next Bob Short,” Mary Holmes said, “could be reading what you write.”
Bill Kirby Jr. can be reached at billkirby49@gmail.com or 910-624-1961.
