December 2022 Grants Awarded

For the past three decades, many local residents have made gifts to the Community Foundation with the instructions “Use it wherever it’s needed the most.”  Thanks to that spirit of generosity the Foundation’s Board of Directors was recently able to grant over $138,000 to local non-profit organizations that are working hard to make a difference to those in need.

Mindful that winter months can be particularly hard for some families struggling to stay warm and fed, the following grants were awarded:

• Whitley County Energy Assistance, $20,000 to help keep homes warm this winter;
• Difference Makers, $10,000 to purchase food supplies for the food bank;
• Salvation Army, $10,000 for emergency canteen supplies;
• The Forklift, $8,000 to cover a portion of food costs for their free-to-the public meal program;
• Whitley County Farmer’s Market, $5,000 to assist with SNAP/WIC/FMNP programs
• Midweek Meal at Community of Hope, $2,500 in matching funds for donations to the new weekly program which is open to all.

Also funded were a number of programs seeking to improve the lives of Whitley County children including:

• DeKalb Parent Group for Handicapped Children (Children First), $10,000 to further resources designed to prevent child abuse, improve parenting skills and assist families in crisis; made possible in part by a grant from the Joe Fahl Fund;
• The Center for Whitley County Youth, $10,000 toward raising matching operating dollars to support their efforts to establish meaningful relationships with local youth;
• Joe’s Kids, $10,000 in matching funds to offset costs of providing therapy to children from Whitley County;
• McMillen Health, $5,000 for school programming;
• Ronald McDonald House, $5,000 to offset the costs of Whitley County families who need to use their services when a child is hospitalized;
• Camp Steam Ahead, $4,000 for enrollment assistance; partial funding from the Weick Fund;
• Giving Gardens, $3,630 toward pavilion costs at the preschool;
• Royal Family Kids Camp – $1,800 to purchase a storage facility for supplies needed by the group which offers foster children a fun, stress-free summer camp experience;
• Junior Achievement, $1,500 for elementary programming in Whitley County;
• Fort Wayne Children’s Choir -$600 to commission a piece for the Whitley County Children’s Choir; and
• Peabody Public Library, $550 for kindergarten programming supplies.

Additional grants were also awarded to projects that address health care needs and enhance community offerings; these included:

• YWCA, $10,000 to provide services for Whitley County women in need of support, counseling or housing, funded in part by a grant from the Whitley County Giving Circle for Women’s Health;
• Stillwater Hospice, $7,500 for general operating support made possible in part by a grant from the Whitley County Giving Circle for Women’s Health;
• South Whitley Library, $6,000 toward the costs of updating light fixtures, made possible in part with a grant from the Theodore Schultz Fund.
• Richland Township, $5,500 toward renovation costs for the Richland Township Community Center.
• Cancer Services, $5,000 to offset costs of providing a client advocacy program in Whitley County made possible with funding from the Shirley Gates Fund; and
• South Whitley Parks, $2,000 to update basketball courts.

Local residents have a long history of helping one another and it’s that giving spirit that has allowed the Community Foundation to award over $30 million in local grants since its inception in 1991. The organization is a non-profit, public charity, working to inspire philanthropy in three ways: 1) they help people make their charitable giving more impactful; 2) they connect funding to effective charitable projects and 3) they provide leadership to address community needs and enhance the quality of life in Whitley County.

“While we are so grateful to be able to help 22 organizations in this funding session, the Foundation received over $350,000 in requests – almost triple available funds — which meant some good projects had to be turned down,” said September McConnell, Foundation CEO. “As gifts to the Foundation’s Greater Good Fund continue to build, we’ll have more opportunity to fund additional projects,” she added. We are grateful to our donors, past and present, who have chosen our organization as a partner for meeting their charitable goals.”

For additional information on the Community Foundation of Whitley County, visit www.cfwhitley.org or call 260-244-5224.