Law enforcement officials, politicians and mothers of children injured or killed by handguns gathered yesterday at Pittsburgh police headquarters to applaud a major grant for an anti-violence group.

CeaseFirePA, a nonprofit organization dedicated to preventing handgun violence, has received $350,000 from The Joyce Foundation in Chicago.

The group's annual budget is $500,000, so the grant represents a huge cash infusion.

"I feel like I've become Warren Buffett with that money," CeaseFirePA President Phil Goldsmith said, referring to the famous billionaire.

Since its founding in 2002, CeaseFirePA has focused its efforts on the eastern part of the state. The group is headquartered in Philadelphia.

Although CeaseFirePA has not yet earmarked its grant money, Mr. Goldsmith said during yesterday's standing-room-only news conference that some will likely go to hiring a paid staff member in the Pittsburgh area to combat handgun violence.

"It is the single largest problem in our community. It's the reason we have a lack of economic development. It's the reason our community lives in fear," said City Councilman Ricky Burgess, whose district includes communities such as Garfield, Homewood and Lincoln-Lemington.

Some of the money will be used to organize coalitions to pursue violence-prevention strategies, Mr. Goldsmith said.

Pittsburgh police Chief Nate Harper said he hoped some money would make its way to the police department to help fund officers' outreach efforts at schools.

Dr. Diane Strollo, whose daughter, Hilary, was wounded during last year's shootings at Virginia Tech, was one of several mothers who attended the news conference.

"No one is spared being a victim of handgun violence," said Dr. Strollo, a UPMC radiologist. "It is beyond any demographic."