Grant and Scholarship Awards for 201
Grants
The Community Foundation of the Virginias, Inc. is pleased to announce the award of 38 grants for 2014.These awards totaling $72,818.20 represent the Foundation’s 18th annual grant cycle supporting local nonprofit groups. The Foundation received a total of $97,012.50 in requests from applicants.
With the inclusion of the 2014 awards, the Foundation has returned more than $1,000,000 to the area since 1997 in grants and scholarships.
The Grants Committee is chaired by Robert Perkinson and comprised of: Rich Bezjak, Mary Jo Babbitt, Kathleen Blaydes, Carole Dodson, Kermit Moore, Doris Sue Kantor.
The Board of Directors of the Foundation unanimously approved the following grants on September 9, 2014, and are listed below by Area of Interest, and alphabetically:
I - Education:
Bluefield College New Opportunity School for Women - $1,275.00 program support, Alfred and Shirley Wampler Caudill Fund and the Ghia Borg Memorial Fund
Memorial Primary School - $2,743.00 to purchase 200 Wiggle Seats, Warren Ashby and Elizabeth Featherstone Thornhill Memorial Fund
Memorial Primary School - $575.00 to purchase stability balls for classroom of 25, Jeffrey Edward Shott Memorial Fund
North Tazewell Elementary School - $2,000.00 to purchase stability balls for classrooms, Ruth Creasy and A. Elmo Fleshman Fund
Quick Start Tennis of Central Virginia, Inc. - $2,000.00 to purchase tennis equipment for Tazewell County Schools, Ruth Creasy and A. Elmo Fleshman Fund
Read Aloud West Virginia, Mercer County - $2,000.00 to provide books to low income children in Mercer County, Bluefield Dailey Telegraph Fund and the Ghia Borg Memorial Fund
Bible in the Schools - $2,151.37 - Donor Designated, B. G. and Rachel Blalock Fund
II - Health:
Mercer Charitable Clinic - $722.63 - Donor Designated, Charles and Jerry Ann Myles Fund
III - Human Services:
Abel Crisis Pregnancy Center - $1,500.00 to purchase Pack N Play and car seats, Fund for Mercer County
Appalachian Agency for Senior Citizens, Inc. - $2,000.00 to purchase cribs, refrigerator, microwave and other items for the child day care, William D. Evans Fund
Blessings in a Backpack (Dudley, Graham Intermed., Ceres) - $2,000.00 to fill backpacks with food every Friday for low income children at Ceres Elementary, Graham Intermediate & Dudley Primary; Judge Jerome and Hilda R. Katz Memorial Fund and Community Impact Project
Blessings in a Backpack (Memorial, Whitethorn and Blfd. Intermed.) - $2,000.00 to fill backpacks with food every Friday for low income children at Memorial, Whitethorn & Blfd. Intermediate; Community Impact Project and the AEP Fund
Bluefield State College Foundation - $2,100.00 planters for the entrances to campus, Charles A. and Marjorie M. Peters Fund and Unrestricted Fund
Buckskin Council Boy Scouts of America - $2,000.00 to fund membership fees in Tazewell and Mercer Counties, Charles A. and Marjorie M. Peters Fund and Unrestricted Fund and the Perkinson Family Fund
Child Protect of Mercer County - $2,000.00 to purchase car seats, Pack N Play and clothing for families in need, Fund for Mercer County
Children's Home Society of West Virginia - $2,000.00 monthly Family Support Group expenses, Jeffrey Edward Shott Fund and the Fund for Mercer County
Children's Home Society of West Virginia WE CAN - $1,747.00 support of activities for low income children, Jeffrey Edward Shott Fund, Rotary Club of Bluefield Fund and the Community Impact Project
F.U.N. Friends Unlimited - $2,000.00 support for the annual prom for disabled adults, Community Impact Project and the Sandra Gayle Monk Fund
Marine Toys for Tots - $2,000.00 Toys for Tots Program support, Fund for Mercer County
Princeton Police Department - $2,040.00 Friends for Life packet for children Unrestricted Fund
Royal Family Kids Camp of Mercer County - $2,000.00 Constant Person Program for children in poverty, Ghia Borg Memorial Fund
SATIRA - $1,000.00 to support the "PURPOSE" program for crafts and snacks, Unrestricted Fund
Save A Pet Food Bank - $2,000.00 program support, Unrestricted Fund
Second Chance for Cats - $1,050.00 program support, Fannie Kate and Betty Gardner Bailey Fund and Unrestricted Fund
Sunrise Center - $2,000.00 to purchase classroom supplies, Unrestricted Fund
The Wade Center - $2,000.00 support of the back pack program, Judge Jerome and Hilda R. Katz Fund Community Action Grant Fund, Bluefield Rotary Club Fund and Community Impact Project
Young Life of Bluefield - $2,000.00 expenses for Young Life Graham High School, Ghia Borg Memorial Fund
The Wade Center - $994.20 - Donor Designated, Sylvester C. and Janice M. Myers Fund
IV - Arts & Humanities:
4 Pals Productions, Inc. - $2,000.00 support of the Annual 4 Pals Theatre Festival for high school students, Unrestricted Fund
Alliance for the Arts, Ltd. - $1,320.00 Banners for the Bluefield Area Arts Center, Janie Poteet Light Fund for Art Studies and the Unrestricted Fund
Blue Mountain Performing Arts - $5,000.00 to help fund "Live From Nashville" concert, Fannie Kate and Betty Gardner Bailey Fund and Unrestricted Fund
Bluefield Beautification Commission - $2,000.00 to purchase benches and trash receptacles for Commerce Street, Ammar Family Fund
Bluefield Fine Arts Commission - $3,000.00 program support for several fundraising projects, Unrestricted Fund
Bluefield Preservation Society - $2,000.00 to purchase 20 white canopy tents and 20 sets of LED decorative lights, Unrestricted Fund
Bluewell Improvement Association - $3,000.00 to purchase 4 new welcome signs in Bluewell, Unrestricted Fund
Charles T. "Chuck" Mathena, II Foundation, Inc. - $2,000.00 to provide tickets to low income in Mercer and Tazewell County, Unrestricted Fund
The Trails at Bluefield City Park - $600.00 to build a footbridge on the Creek Trail at the City Park Trail, Unrestricted Fund
Town of Bluefield, VA Beautification Commission - $2,000.00 playground equipment at Pinehill Park Playground, Unrestricted Fund
Scholarships
The Board of Directors of the Community Foundation of the Virginias, Inc. met Tuesday, May 13, and approved scholarship recommendations from the Scholarship Committee for 56 students who are graduating seniors at high schools in Mercer, McDowell and Fayette counties in West Virginia, and Tazewell County, Virginia, or are college students who have been awarded a scholarship on a continuing basis.
Scholarship recipients are chosen through a competitive application process by the Scholarship Committee, which is chaired by Carole Dodson, with members Mary Azzo, Gene Bailey, Carl Gillespie, Eugenia Hancock, Harry Kammer, Mary Raub, Jim Steorts, Bettye VanDyke, and Susan Whittaker.
Eighteen individual endowed funds awarded a total of 70 scholarships totaling more than $68,000. The scholarships came from the following endowed funds:
Alex B. Mahood, Jr. Scholarship
Alfred and Shirley Wampler Caudill Scholarship
C.B. and Ora Hunter Hancock Memorial Scholarship
Dr. Jack Walter Witten Scholarship
E.R. Gillespie Scholarship
Graham High Scholarship
Grants Supermarket Scholarship
James and Rebecca Steorts Fund
Joetta Collins Hooker Memorial Scholarship
Joshua Lee Shutt Memorial Scholarship
Kendrick Family Scholarship
Lindsay Rebekah Haun Memorial Scholarship
Marsha A. Mead, PhD. Scholarship
Maurice and Grace Hanna Weinberg Scholarship
Max L and Virginia S. Kammer Family Scholarship
Rose Sinicrope Scholarship
Roy R. Raub, M.D. Memorial Scholarship
William G. Skewes Memorial Scholarship