Wayne County Community Foundation approves grants

Editor’s note: This is the second of a two-part report. The first part was published in the June 22 edition.

The Wayne County Community Foundation Board of Trustees met in May and approved grant awards for the spring competitive grant cycle.

Twenty-nine organizations were awarded grants totaling $520,937.45 from some of the foundation’s named community and field-of-interest funds including the following:

—P. Graham Dunn Park Inc. received a $10,000 grant from the Robert L. & Kathleen M. Polsky Foundation Community Fund to purchase and plant 40 trees at the Silver Linden Park in Dalton to replace lost trees and add to the beauty of the park and to the health of the environment and the community.

—Rails to Trails of Wayne County received a $10,000 grant from the Carl E. Congdon Jr. & Susanna Congdon McIntyre Memorial Fund to offset construction cost increases for Closing the Gap between Allen Avenue in Orrville and Forrer Road on the Heartland Trail.

—RePlay for Kids received a $2,686 grant from the Lloyd W. James Memorial Fund to partner with the Wayne County Public Library to establish an adapted toy lending program for children with disabilities.

—The College of Wooster received a $25,000 grant from an anonymous community fund to help cover the cost for local nonprofit AMRE projects.

—The Counseling Center of Wayne and Holmes Counties received a $50,000 grant from the Beaverson Foundation Community Fund for architectural fees to design a mental health residential treatment facility.

—The Village Network received a $2,500 grant from the Charles R. & Henrietta Yenne Fund to provide pottery wheels for their art therapy program for youth in their outpatient programs and those living on their residential campus in Wooster.

—United Way of Wayne and Holmes Counties Inc. received a $20,000 grant from the Beaverson Foundation Community Fund to help cover the cost of the books the children receive through the Wayne County Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.

—VANTAGE Aging received a $5,000 grant from the Edward, Arlene & Kaye Maibach Family Fund to replace essential kitchen and delivery equipment so Meals on Wheels of Northeast Ohio can continue to provide nutritious meals to Wayne County seniors.

—Wayne County Historical Society received a $9,000 grant from the Margaret Hauenstein Memorial Fund and an anonymous community fund to help restore failing masonry, repoint bricks and repair damaged stonework of the Beall-Stibbs House, which is approximately 200 years old.

—Wayne County Schools Career Center-Aspire received a $7,590.45 grant from the Nolan & Elise Hite Community Fund to update and replenish their supply of laptops for in-class student use.

—Wayne Growth Partnership received a $40,000 grant, over four years, from the Wayne County Community Foundation General Fund to help support business and workforce development and address barriers to growth. Current focus areas are childcare, workforce housing and workforce development.

—West View Healthy Living received a $100,000 grant from the Beaverson Foundation Community Fund to improve the lighting in the Carrington Memory Care Unit at West View Healthy Living. A 24-hour lighting scheme would provide high circadian stimulation during the day and low circadian stimulation during the night, good visual conditions during waking hours, and nightlights that are safe and minimize sleep disruption.

—Wooster City School District received a $2,500 grant from the Donald G. and Marjorie Pixley Beane Fund and the Albert “Koby” Kobilarcik Educational Fund to provide Pioneer Valley In Tandem literacy intervention resources to be used with K-4 students.

—Wooster City School District received a $12,284 grant from the John Kaylor Memorial Fund for a Student Recognition Digital Display to be installed at Wooster High School to recognize all past and present athletic, art and academic students’ accomplishments.

—Wooster-Wayne Chapter of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution received a $1,830 grant from the Charles R. & Henrietta Yenne Fund to pay local monument companies to install new Veterans Association headstones on patriots’ graves in Wayne County with no current headstones and restore patriots’ headstones in need of leveling.

—Zion Lutheran Church received a $15,763 grant from the Robert L. & Kathleen M. Polsky Foundation Community Fund to install double doors on their red outbuilding so AAUW and Kiwanis can move pallets of used books to their book sale location at the fairgrounds.

The WCCF is a nonprofit organization established in 1978 to accept contributions, create and administer funds, and make grants for the benefit of the people of Wayne County. Since 1978 the foundation has awarded more than $112.8 million in the form of grants and scholarships from its 570 separate funds.

Its community and field-of-interest funds permit the WCCF Board of Trustees to be responsive to the changing needs of the community. Donations to these funds by individuals, families, businesses and service organizations help to increase the amount available for grants each year. Contact Melanie Reusser Garcia, WCCF executive director, for more information.

Competitive grant applications from nonprofit, tax-exempt, charitable organizations should be submitted by March 1 and Sept. 1 each year. The grant guidelines and online application are available at www.waynecountycommunityfoundation.org.