The Jandy Ammons Foundation funds art, parks and wildlife in Raleigh and across the Triangle.

By Sydney Brainard | Photography by Erin Woodiel

Jan and Andy Ammons aren’t interested in constructing any amphitheaters in their name. Rather, the married duo, founders of The Jandy Ammons Foundation, are much more concerned with the simple—sometimes invisible—things that make people’s lives better. So, despite their generous donations to local nonprofits, you may have never heard their names.

“It’s a sidewalk or a tree or a boardwalk,” Andy says. “We’ve really tried to let our foundation rely on simple things that people can use every day over and over again—not big stuff that’s showy.”

Since 2013, the foundation has provided more than $5 million in grants to local nonprofits in North Carolina, mostly focused around the Triangle area, where they raised their family. 

In recent years, they’ve contributed to the Dix Park Conservancy, N.C. Botanical Garden Foundation, N.C. Coastal Federation, Raleigh City Farm, Friends of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail, Raleigh Little Theatre, and dozens and dozens more. The money has gone toward projects like information signs and displays, trail boardwalks, education spaces, and infrastructure—the kind of important projects that make up some of the foundational parts of these nonprofits.

“Jan and Andy’s love for the park has just been palpable ever since I’ve been working with them,” says Rob Maddrey, vice president of development for Dix Park Conservancy. “That can be seen here on several fronts. One, in how we interpret the park to visitors. Some early support they offered was for our signage. Another grant was to help support our visitor center and exhibition space.”

Years before the foundation came to be, Andy was a real estate developer in the area, placing an emphasis on developing green space and amenities for communities, and Jan was doing community work in her children’s parent-teacher association, churches and other civic organizations. She spent time working in Wake Forest’s Parks and Rec department, which further fueled her love for nature spaces.

As their kids Jessie, Drew, and Max cycled through college, they decided to do something more to give back to their community and create a legacy to pass on to their children and grandchildren.

“We have been very fortunate, very blessed, and we did very well, so we wanted to try to give back in some way. One way was just to start making donations, to write checks. But that felt somewhat impersonal,” Andy says. “Instead, we chose to have a foundation—to have meetings, have a board, and work through weekly and quarterly meetings.”

“I thought I was phasing out of work—it turned out I wasn’t,” he laughs. “I was just getting started again.”

The foundation was officially established in November 2012 and provided its first round of grant funds in 2013. The money is self-funded by the Ammons’ own assets and investments the foundation holds. With all the applications they receive each year, they keep their scope limited, focusing on “innovative, project-driven endeavors that will enhance wildlife habitats, park settings, educational surroundings, artistic installations, or Christian church mission projects,” as stated on the foundation’s website.

In 2013, that meant new observation platforms for Agape Kure Beach Ministries, a native plant “adopt-a-spot” for North Carolina Native Plant Society and a new baseball field for Miracle League of the Triangle, among others. Since then, donations have grown, and so has the foundation.

From the beginning, The Jandy Ammons Foundation has been a family affair. Jan recalls her kids helping her with the very first round of grant applications, when they were all in college, while she and her husband were still learning the ropes of how to run a foundation.

“We were like, ‘Oh, look, these are applications.'” These fit the mold,” Jan says. “And the kids said, Well, we need to have a rubric here to measure these things.”

In another instance, she says, Drew and his friends drove all night after getting back from a trip, just to make it to one of the foundation’s meetings the next morning.

“I remember thinking, I never wanted them to feel like they have to be part of this, but they have all demonstrated that they are willing participants,” Jan says. “Now that they are all married, their spouses are included as well, and so that’s been very heartening.”

Currently, Jessie serves as the executive director of the foundation, Drew serves on the board of directors and grant committee and Max also serves on the grant committee. Drew’s wife, Alex, and Max’s wife, Cassie, are both on the grant committee as well.

What the family didn’t expect from starting the foundation was that the hardest part of running it would be saying no. 

The foundation has a thorough vetting process during their grant cycle. They take in applications, have two different readers examine each application, discuss each one in depth, and then make initial cuts based on available funding. 

“And that part is the hardest part, right?” Jan says. “We have to, usually, make another cut before the actual grants are issued and given.”

In order to handle the large number of applications, the foundation has to stick to the boundaries of its scope, which means passing on projects they might think are great but just don’t fit the criteria. They are also increasingly focusing solely on projects within the Triangle, rather than the whole state of North Carolina.

Throughout all of these projects, the Ammons have one important boundary: they are the funds behind the project, not the architects.

“We have been at times asked to serve on somebody’s board, but that really has never been our intent,” Jan says. “We want to see what their dream is, not ours.”

“They’re very thoughtful,” Maddrey says. “And that partnership helps to reinforce that they believe in what the nonprofit is doing and that they hope that their resources can help make the nonprofit successful.” 

In recent months, the foundation has shifted its focus toward fewer and larger gifts. Over the summer, they announced two major partnerships: donating $2 million to the North Carolina Museum of Art for the Jandy Ammons Foundation Bridge in the Museum Park and $625,000 to Small School for an Infrastructure of Art along Raleigh’s Greenway System. Both projects are five-plus-year commitments that will kick off in 2027. “Projects like these allow us to live into our mission in a focused and meaningful way,” says Jan. “It is wildly exciting for our small family foundation to support projects of this scope, of course. But most of all we are proud to contribute to the kinds of experiences we personally cherish in our community.”

As for the future of the foundation, Jan and Andy have left the decision for them to step aside up to their children. 

“They want to have it go on in perpetuity, so we have adjusted our giving to reflect that,” Jan says. 

Still, they added a bylaw that enables the kids to decide to end the foundation and pay out a large donation, if necessary—but it seems the next generation of Ammons are pretty dedicated. “We’re learning a lot about it and thankful that there’s an opportunity to keep it growing in the future,” Drew says. Still, he emphasizes, Jan and Andy likely won’t be going anywhere anytime soon.

“They’re still in their 60s, which is not that old, and they plan on being around for a while,” he says. “They care more about the foundation than most things outside of their personal life.”

Even Jan and Andy’s five grandchildren, ranging from just a few months to 5 years old, get to participate. 

“We take our grandchildren on site visits all the time,” Jan laughs. “They don’t know what they’re doing, but they’re there.”

“I like to take them off to the side so that Jan and Jessie can do all the work,” Andy says. “And we can try all the playgrounds out for them early, too.”  

This article originally appeared in the November 2026 issue of WALTER Magazine.