Posted on January 2, 2010

Community Foundation Update (1/02/10)

Connecticut

The Fairfield County Community Foundation awarded 131 grants totaling nearly $1 million to sixty-four Bridgeport nonprofits as part of the $9.1 million it awarded during 2009, the Bridgeport News reports. In addition, the foundation brokered $1.3 million in grants from other foundations and funding sources to benefit local nonprofit programs while awarding more than $500,000 in scholarships, including almost $100,000 to Bridgeport students.

The Carthage-based Community Foundation of Southwest Missouri, an affiliate of the Community Foundation of the Ozarks, has received a $100,000 grant from the estate of Everett Halliburton "Hal" Hough, the Joplin Globe reports. According to Michelle Ducre, who heads the affiliate, the gift will be used for the betterment of Carthage, with special attention given to McCune-Brooks Regional Hospital.

The Fund for the Arts, a funding collaborative of eight foundations in western New York that includes the Greater Buffalo Community Foundation and the Western New York Foundation, has announced a new funding initiative designed to support mid-size cultural organizations in the region. Ten organizations representing Erie and Niagara counties and encompassing a range of arts programming, including three collaborative efforts with an additional seven partners, were selected to participate in a pilot project over the next year. In addition to support from the collaborators, FFA received a $124,000 grant from the Kresge Foundation for the program, which will match organizations with consultants who will work to help them identify, prioritize, and realize growth opportunities.

The Iredell County, Union County, and Salisbury community foundations — all affiliates of the Charlotte-based Foundation for the Carolinas — have announced grants to organizations serving their respective communities. The Salisbury Community Foundation awarded more than $72,000 to ten organizations, while the Union County Community Foundation distributed nearly $73,000 to nine groups and the Iredell County Community Foundation awarded $88,000 to eleven groups.

The Columbus Foundation has announced the first grants from its new Fund for Financial Restructuring, which was established in September to support nonprofit leaders and their organizations as they work to adapt to the new economic climate facing the social sector. Seven grants totaling $246,000 will help organizations work to develop and implement plans to better position themselves for long-term health and advancement. Recipients include the Columbus AIDS Taskforce, the Furniture Bank of Central Ohio, and United Cerebral Palsy of Central Ohio.

The William and Florence Schneider Fund of the Eugene-based Oregon Community Foundation has awarded $25,000 to Community Works to improve its HelpLine services, the Mail Tribune reports. The HelpLine service provides support to community members twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, handling some thirteen thousand calls a year.

The Nashville-based Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee has announced that former National Football League coach Ken Shipp has established a new scholarship fund to benefit Rutherford County public school students attending his alma mater, Middle Tennessee State University. The first scholarships will be awarded in the spring of 2010.

The Greater Milwaukee Foundation has announced that it committed an additional $300,000 to its Basic Needs Fund to provide immediate help to area food pantries and homeless shelters serving the area's most needy. Since November, two other local foundations — the Faye McBeath and Ceres foundations — each committed $50,000 to the fund. Since December 2008, the Greater Milwaukee Foundation, its donors, other foundations, and the community have contributed or committed nearly $1 million to fund.