It’s times like these that make me appreciative of sharing good news. Hopefully this can make a difference in our Commonwealth’s 4th largest city.

Mike Batchelor invited the heads of 46 charities into his downtown office for one-on-one meetings to personally deliver the news.

Nearby, on a small table, sat a box of tissues. And then he proceeded: A donor had given a staggering $100 million to the Erie Community Foundation, and the charities would get to share the windfall.

That’s when the tears came — and the mystery began — in this old industrial city of 102,000 on Lake Erie. The donor would be identified only as ‘‘Anonymous Friend.’‘

Batchelor and other foundation officials are sworn to secrecy, allowing only that the donor had worked with the organization for years to identify deserving recipients before the announcement this summer.

Is the donor now dead or still alive? No comment, Batchelor said. What is the donor’s connection to Erie? No comment.