Nine nonprofits awarded grants

April 23, 2004|by WANDA T. WILLIAMS

WASHINGTON COUNTY - The Community Foundation of Washington County has awarded a total of $26,250 in grants to nine area nonprofit agencies.

"Our job is to make what you do easier," foundation Board of Trustees Chairman Dick Phoebus Sr. told agency representatives and Community Foundation board members at an awards reception at Four Points Sheraton at Hagerstown Thursday.

For a second year, the foundation has awarded unrestricted grants to Washington County nonprofit organizations.

The foundation targeted agencies that provide human service, recreational and artistic programs, foundation Executive Director Bradley N. Sell said.

Sell said the Community Foundation of Washington County has awarded $1.3 million to area nonprofit agencies since 1997, a year after the foundation was started.

Board members said the selection process wasn't easy and funds were limited. Forty-nine area agencies submitted applications totaling $384,040 in funding requests, according to a foundation report.

"I'm delighted," said Fay Kilmer-Smith, executive director of Potomac Case Management Services Inc. of Hagerstown, which received $2,500.

Her organization will use the money to offer personal coaching to troubled teens, she said.

"Our goal is to address ongoing needs of the community," said Merle S. Elliott, a board member who spearheaded the selection process.

Elliott said the foundation met with a cross-section of area leaders to determine the emerging social needs in Washington County. The grants allocation committee consisted of foundation volunteers, who made the final selections.

Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Washington County will use its $4,000 grant to expand a new school-based mentoring program, casework supervisor Crystal Davis said.

"We hope to start the Northern Middle School program in the fall," Davis said.

|

|

|