NINETEEN LOCAL NOT-FOR-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS RECEIVE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION GRANTS

 

 

 

The Community Foundation of Herkimer & Oneida Counties, Inc. partnered with 19 area not-for-profit organizations during the first half of 2009. The Foundation awarded grants totaling $400,193 to enhance the organizations’ services to local residents. Selected grants are:

• Many children with disabilities in our area are unable to communicate verbally. The Community Foundation partnered with Madison-Oneida BOCES with a grant of $12,270 that allowed them to provide advanced communication devices for children with verbal communication challenges.

• The Rome Art and Community Center’s beautiful grounds will be able to be taken full advantage of thanks to a grant in the amount of $22,250 for iron fencing. The fencing will allow the Center to safely hold outdoor programs, including many for children.

• What schoolchild doesn’t love going to the playground for recess? Thanks to a grant of $45,724, Watson Williams School in Utica will be able to lay ground surface material and install already-purchased playground equipment.

• Abraham House is now able to provide space for another not-for-profit organization and generate rental income for their programs by renting out a nearby building. The building was renovated and made tenant-ready with a $9,900 grant from The Foundation.

• The Kelberman Center will hire a research fellow who will document their programs with a $75,000 Foundation grant. This research will help them expand their services through innovative, evidence-based autism programs.

• Nothing hinders one’s productivity quite like a computer crash. The Mohawk Valley Perinatal Network will be able to increase its efficiency for clients due to a technology upgrade that was enabled by a $2,728 Foundation grant.

• The Central Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired now has equipment it needs to expand employment. A grant for $50,000 will be used to purchase a machine that makes rubber bands. In turn, CABVI will employ people to work with this machine and satisfy a government contract for the bands. Income from this contract will be used to support CABVI’s services to local blind and visually impaired clients.

• The Utica Center for Development, Inc. will be able to hire two staff persons as they work to expand the services available through the new Veterans’ Center of Central New York due to a $50,000 award from The Foundation.

• Children love to interact, and to use technology. The Children’s Museum now offers interactive science, history and technology exhibits thanks to a $24,800 grant.

• Community members will have a safer gym floor for recreational activities thanks to a $25,000 Foundation grant that will allow the City of Utica to replace the existing gym floor at the Parkway Recreation Center.

• Community members calling Cornell Cooperative Extension of Herkimer County will have an uncomplicated experience thanks to a telephone system upgrade made possible by a $5,095 grant.

• Our area is rich in history, and the Little Falls Historical Society is using a $3,500 grant to hire a summer intern to research and record the histories of some of that city’s notable individuals.

• The Mid-York Library System will use an $8,375 grant for an Information Technology audit, review of procedures and to document a disaster recovery plan.

• Millers Mills Grange #581, home of the annual ice harvest, will use a grant of $15,000 to renovate their grange building so they can host more community events.

• A new boiler at the Sherrill Kenwood Free Library, purchased with a $3,930 grant, will increase efficiency and help keep energy costs down.

• School’s out for summer. Now what? The Boys & Girls Clubs of the Mohawk Valley is using a $5,143 grant for a summer evening program that will provide local teens with constructive activities, including a youth basketball program where players are coached by off-duty members of the Utica Police Department who are volunteering their time.

• Girls in Mohawk have a softball team; now they need a field. A $20,000 grant will allow Mohawk Girls’ Youth Softball to build a field they can use for practices and games.

• With so many children growing up today without a father, New Hartford Rotary Club of District 7150 has begun a fatherhood initiative, which aims to increase awareness of the importance of fathers in children’s lives. A $10,000 grant from The Community Foundation will help them conduct their awareness campaign for this project.

• We all want to reduce our overall expenses and be more environmentally friendly. Thea Bowman House is doing just that by purchasing industrial dishwashers and sturdy utensils for their two sites so they do not have to rely on energy-inefficient hand dishwashing and environmentally-unfriendly disposable plates and utensils with a grant of $11,478.