Pay Day

Community Foundation, United Fund award more than $1.2M to agencies

Recipients of grants from the Montgomery County Community Foundation and Montgomery County United Fund are pictured following a ceremony at Pike Place Wednesday. The agencies awarded more than $1.2 million in grants during the event.

Nick Hedrick/Journal Review

Posted Thursday, October 1, 2020 1:15 am

By The Numbers

MCCF awarded grants to the following agencies in March. The groups were recognized at Wednesday’s ceremony:

Sugar Creek Players — $50,208 for a new roof on the theater building, one new furnace and three air-conditioning units.

Animal Welfare League of Montgomery County — $18,476 to upgrade 10 outdoor dog runs with concrete pads and new fencing; install an outdoor power supply; purchase three computers, an additional workstation, and storage shelving.

Wayne Township Community Improvement — $7,500 to compete the construction of a monument to the old Waynetown School, including new sidewalk and flagpole.

New Hope Preschool — $6,948 for classroom equipment and supplies to add 10 preschool seats in existing space.

North Montgomery School Corp.’s Early Learning Academy — $11,340 for student scholarships for four-year-old students, specifically those with risk factors detrimental to academic and social/emotional success.

Montgomery County Cultural Foundation — $21,235 to install a new smoke/fire detection and alarm system at the Rotary Jail Museum.

New Beginnings Child Care — $15,000 to offer scholarship to families qualifying for free and reduced lunched, according to the Child and Adult Care Food Program and to those with temporary need.

Trinity Mission — $5,405 to support its Family Ministry program. Topics include Intervention, Word View, and Conflict Resolution. Confident Kids will also be offered to children to support them through change.

Grants were awarded in the latest cycle to these agencies:

Athens Arts — 5,791 to support a National Juried Exhibition in the spring of 2021. The National Endowment for the Arts publication “How Art Works” shows the benefits of making art highly visible in communities.

Athens Arts — $11,000 in COVID-19 Operating Support. This will offset shortfalls in fundraising and giving and will be used for salaries, utilities, rent, programming and marketing.

Crawfordsville Adult Resource Academy — $6,136 in COVID-19 Operating Support to complement their award from MCUF. These funds will provide for hot spots and data plans for the new equipment which will be available to support remote learning.

Crawfordsville Masonic Temple Foundation — $6,900 in COVID-19 Operating Support to offset lost revenue from cancelled events. This will cover utilities and required building safety upgrades.

Crawfordsville Masonic Temple Foundation — Matching grant opportunity of up to $30,000 to replace the roof on the temple and related repairs to the building. For every $1.50 raised, MCCF will award $1.00, up to $30,000.

Darlington Forever, Inc. — $19,700 for repairs to the Darlington Covered Bridge

Waveland Strong — $4,000 for new basketball goals at the Waveland Park, along with more letters for the letter board to better promote community events.

Fuzzy Bear Preschool — $60,126 to replace the roof and two furnaces and air-conditioning units

Montgomery County Free Clinic — $21,752 to establish the Doemel Extended Services Fund, to be used for patients’ dental and medical needs that the clinic cannot provide. It will also help fund some marketing materials.

Montgomery County Historical Society — $5,000 in COVID-19 operating support. The funds will be used to offset admissions and fundraising losses, to cover payroll and utility expenses for the operation of historic Lane Place.

Montgomery County Historical Society — $10,000 to address compromised trees on the grounds of the historic Lane Place.

Lew Wallace Study Preservation Society — $50,000 for the restoration of a section of the brick wall that surrounds the grounds of General Lew Wallace Study & Museum.

Servants at Work (SAWS) — $3,600 to construct and install three wheelchair ramps for Montgomery County residents.

Sunshine Vans — $21,272 will provide the matching funds needed for an INDOT grant for two new vans, as well as radios, and related equipment for each.

Women’s Resource Center — $6,500 for medical supplies and support for their Great Expectations program that provides expectant parents with much needed items like diapers and car seats.

Achaius Ranch — $16,460 to support The Harmony Project, stage one in developing a trauma-informed, attachment-focused program aimed at helping students become resilient who are struggling academically, socially and emotionally, due to adversity and trauma at home.

Boys & Girls Club — $40,000 in COVID-19 Operating Support. This will offset the loss of after school Revenue and Indiana Kids Revenue and prevent an increase in fees. The funds will be used for payroll, utilities, and supplies.

Youth Service Bureau — $30,500 for program support for CASA, which provides a volunteer advocate for every child who is a victim of abuse/neglect; child abuse prevention program which provides community education for both youth and adults; Inspire, a group-mentoring program for girls needing additional support and guidance; and JUMP, a community based mentoring program.

MCUF awarded COVID-19 emergency funds from Lilly Endowment Inc. and Indiana United Way to the following agencies:

• Boys & Girls Club — $45,000 for operations

• Crawfordsville Adult Resource Academy — $29,626 for operations and equipment

• Dusk to Dawn Bereavement — $10,600 for operations

• Fuzzy Bear Preschool — $3,000 for equipment and capital improvements

• Family Crisis Shelter — $30,000 for operations

• New Beginnings Child Care — $7,260 for operations

• Pam’s Promise Transitional Housing — $18,450 for operations

• Sunshine Vans — $17,500 for operations

• Women’s Resource Center — $7,000 for operations

• Youth Service Bureau — $26,500 for operations and programs

• Youth Service Bureau — $7,000 for equipment

Nick Hedrick | nhedrick@jrpress.com

The Montgomery County Community Foundation and Montgomery County United Fund awarded more than $1.2 million in grants to nearly 30 local nonprofit organizations Wednesday in a socially distanced ceremony.

Representatives gathered in a mid-afternoon breeze at Pike Place to accept their checks, which will help some agencies make up revenue lost from the coronavirus pandemic.

“We’re not looking at a computer screen in Zoom meetings. We’re actually here in person,” MCCF chief executive officer Kelly Taylor told the audience, which sat in lawn chairs wearing masks.

Along with handing out the latest round of grants, MCCF recognized organizations that were awarded funds in March but couldn’t have a public ceremony because of the pandemic.

Eight agencies received more than $136,100 this spring. They included: Sugar Creek Players; Animal Welfare League of Montgomery County; Wayne Township Community Improvement; New Hope Preschool; North Montgomery School Corp.’s Early Learning Academy; Montgomery County Cultural Foundation; New Beginnings Child Care; and Trinity Ministry.

Throughout the year, MCCF has given more than $216,700 to 19 agencies through the COVID-19 Emergency Assistance Fund. The fund benefits agencies that provide food, childcare, human services and healthcare to clients.

Another 15 organizations were awarded funds in the latest cycle, totaling more than $348,700. MCCF received more than $630,000 in grant applications, likely the highest total ever in requests, Taylor said.

Crawfordsville Masonic Temple Foundation, which is renovating the historic downtown landmark into an event center, received a matching grant of up to $30,000 to replace the roof and make other building repairs.

For every $1.50 raised, MCCF will award $1 up to $30,000.

The award will cover about a third of the $150,000 cost of the new roof if all the funds are matched.

Organizers are planning an all-terrain vehicle raffle at the Crawfordsville Farmers’ Market, a November chili supper and a Festival of Trees at Christmastime.

The temple foundation also received COVID-19 operating support funds to make up for fundraising events canceled due to the pandemic and install security and handicap-accessibility upgrades.

“We were really ready to start booking stuff when COVID hit,” member Jennifer Lowe said.

Other agencies receiving funds included Athens Arts, Crawfordsville Adult Resource Academy, Darlington Forever Inc., Waveland Strong, Fuzzy Bear Preschool, Montgomery County Free Clinic, Montgomery County Historical Society, Lew Wallace Study Preservation Society, Servants at Work, Sunshine Vans, Women’s Resource Center, Achaius Ranch, Boys & Girls Club of Montgomery County and the Montgomery County Youth Service Bureau.

MCUF partnered with the community foundation to award COVID-19 emergency relief funds from Lilly Endowment Inc. and Indiana United Way to 11 local human service agencies.

Those groups included the Boys & Girls Club, CARA, Dusk to Dawn Bereavement, Fuzzy Bear, Family Crisis Shelter, New Beginnings, Pam’s Promise Transitional Housing, Sunshine Vans, Women’s Resource Center and YSB.

The community foundation also formally presented Mayor Todd Barton and parks and recreation director Fawn Johnson with a $350,000 grant for improvements to Kathleen J. Steele Park. The funds came from an anonymous donor.