MANCHESTER — About 1,000 people gathered Tuesday to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation.

“I don’t think there is anything more noble that we can do with our lives than to make a positive difference in the lives of other people,” Gov. John Lynch told the crowd. “And that’s what the foundation has been doing for 50 years.”

The foundation was founded in 1962 with funds from the Spaulding-Potter Trusts, according to the foundation’s website. At the time, it had $18,858 in assets. Fifty years later, the foundation’s assets are nearly $465 million and awarded $30 million in 2011, according to the foundation’s annual report.

The crowd packed into the Expo Center at the Radisson Hotel for the celebration.

“It’s nice to see the best of New Hampshire here to support causes and make New Hamsphire a better place,” said state Sen. Lou D’Allesandro.

The foundation’s accomplishments are numerous. It saved the Palace Theatre in Manchester. It helped launch New Hampshire Public Radio. Its Student Aid Program provides more than $5 million in scholarships annually. It helped create the New Hampshire Healthy Kids program. It launched the New Futures initiative aimed at preventing and treating alcohol, tobacco and other drug problems in the state.

“While 2012 is our 50th anniversary, we’re already looking ahead to 2062 and our 100th,” Richard Ober, the foundation’s president and CEO, wrote in the foundation’s semiannual newsletter.