Foundation Awards $125,000 in Grants to Local Nonprofits

The Community Foundation of Washington County MD presented its 2016 unrestricted grants to 32 local nonprofits on March 17 at the Hagerstown YMCA. Total dollars for this year’s grants equaled $125,130, putting the Foundation’s total grants over $1 million since the program’s inception 13 years ago. The grants committee awarded Washington County nonprofits and programs that addressed one or more strategies within the following Strategic Community Impact Plan focus areas as outlined in the SCIP document: Education, Arts & Culture, Family Safety and Security, Health and Well-Being, Elderly, Disabled Population, Self-Sufficiency and Civic Engagement.Resources for unrestricted grants come from the growth and earnings of established Community Funds at the Foundation as well as a partnership with the Pauline Anderson Foundation. The Foundation’s Grants Committee presented grants to the following 33 programs:

• Big Brothers Big Sisters: $5,000 for site-based mentoring program
• BISFA: $1,500 for Black Box Theatre Event
• Brave HEART Program: $3,000 for Help Light the Way for Our Military Families
• Brook Lane Foundation: $6,000 for Mental health first-aid training
• CFWC Imagination Library: $5,000 for books to children birth to five
• Children in Need: $5,000 for monthly client visits & school supplies
• Diakon Adult Day Services: $8,000 for the 2016 Caregiver Support Initiative
• Discovery Station: $2,500 for exhibit enhancements & upgrades
• Farmers & Hunters Feeding the Hungry: $2,500 for venison donation for hunger relief
• Fort Ritchie Community Center: $3,520 for the Summer Boating Adventure
• Fountaindale Elementary School: $1,750 for Lego robotics after-school academy
• Girls Inc.: $6,250 for therapeutic horseback riding for girls
• Girls on the Run: $3,000 for the Volunteer Coach Coordination Program
• Hagerstown Area Religious Council: $2,500 for Micah’s Backpack
• Hagerstown Ice Amateur Athletic Association: $5,160 for the Kodiaks Sled Hockey Team
• Hagerstown YMCA: $8,000 for Summer Camp for All
• HEAL: $5,000 for a healthy video series
• Interfaith Service Coalition: $3,000 for Client Emergency Assistance program
• Leadership Washington County: $1,200 for nonprofit scholarships
• Maryland Symphony Orchestra: $2,500 for Ensembles in the Schools Education Program
• Mason-Dixon Council, BSA: $2,000 for STEM Scouting for at-risk youth
• Mediation Center: $5,000 for Wash. Co. Youth Conflict-to-Peace Initiative
• REACH of Washington County: $5,000 for Cold Weather Shelter
• Salvation Army: $2,500 for the MANNA Feeding Program
• Salvation Army: $7,500 for the Women & children’s shelter
• Star Community: $2,500 for a Sensory Walking Trail Station
• Tabitha’s Table: $3,000 for fresh fruits & vegetables for clients
• Together With Families, Inc.: $1,000 for Building Families: Protective Factors at Home
• United Way of Washington County: $4,000 for Summer Lead & Learn
• Valor Ministries: $6,250 for the Valor Crisis & Training Center
• Wash County Community Action Council: $4,000 for the Crisis Intervention Food Pantry
• Washington County Museum of Fine Arts: $5,000 for Along the Eastern Road Exhibition
• Women’s Club Foundation: $2,000 for new mattresses & box springs