Community Foundation awards $940K in grants

The Findlay-Hancock County Community Foundation Board of Trustees has approved grants totaling $947,580. This total includes seven responsive grants, three president's discretionary grants and 139 donor-advised fund grants. "As we begin our 30th year, I am continually grateful for the thousands of generous philanthropists who came together with the Foundation to make these grants possible," said Brian Treece, president and CEO of the Foundation. "In 30 years, we've awarded more than $70 million and changed countless lives. I can't wait to see what impact these new grants will have in the near future." Responsive grants Responsive grants are awarded to nonprofit organizations that seek to meet community needs and match the goals, objectives and priorities of the Community Foundation. Grant-seekers must submit a written grant proposal for consideration. Applications are reviewed four times per year. Funding for responsive grants comes from the community's endowment, made up of funds for the common good and field of interest funds established by donors at the Community Foundation. The following responsive grants were approved: • Children's Mentoring Connection was awarded a three-year, $90,000 grant to support the creation of a project manager position for agency growth and sustainability. • The Findlay-Hancock County Public Library was awarded $5,000 to support the 2023 CommunityREAD. • The Hancock County Educational Service Center was awarded $20,767 to support the Virtual Job Shadowing Project to prepare special needs students for workforce opportunities. • Hancock Public Health was awarded $779 to provide support services to local youths with diabetes to better manage their disease. • Ohio State University Extension-Hancock County was awarded $8,276 to create a STEM program in Hancock County. • University of Findlay was awarded $1,475 to support youth-driven service learning focused on diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging. • West Ohio Food Bank was awarded $6,180 to support food distribution in Hancock County in 2022. President's discretionary grants Discretionary grants fund urgent or special requests that are outside of the Community Foundation's various grant cycles. The president of the Community Foundation is allocated an amount each year. These grants typically do not individually exceed $5,000. The following discretionary grants were awarded: • HHWP Community Action Commission was awarded $5,000 to pilot a rural route to Mount Blanchard. • Mazza Museum at the University of Findlay was awarded $5,000 to support the November Funday Sunday event with a philanthropy theme. • University of Findlay was awarded $1,107 for the Asian American Oral History Project to gather and transcribe residents' stories. Donor-advised grants A total of 139 donor-advised grants were awarded to 84 organizations, totaling $803,996.