Marshall County Community Foundation Awards $112,736 in Grants

MCCF announced the second round of 2017 grants from the Foundation’s Community Fund during an awards presentation held Thursday, October 12, 2017 in Plymouth, Indiana. Twice each year, nonprofit organizations are invited to submit proposals for new, innovative and collaborative projects. Members of the community serving on the MCCF Grants Committee evaluate the proposals and conduct site visits during a competitive application process.

Unrestricted (Community) Fund Grants: 
Unrestricted endowment funds are the most flexible and responsive of the Foundation’s 353 funds in addressing current and emerging needs. Grants from unrestricted endowment funds typically support projects focusing on the arts, education, health and human services, recreation and the environment.

The first grants from unrestricted funds at MCCF were awarded in 1995; since then MCCF has awarded over $3.6 million in total grants to the community from these funds alone. The growth of unrestricted funds now enables MCCF to award more than $200,000 in unrestricted fund grants on an annual basis.

In addition to the MCCF Community Fund, several unrestricted funds also support new and emerging needs. These funds include the Barbara and Ralph Winters Community Fund, the Brian and Patricia Kitch Family Community Fund, the C & M Overmyer Unrestricted Endowment Fund, the iAB Financial Bank Community Fund, the John and Kay Finlay Community Fund, the Philip and Sylvia Bieghler Community Fund, and the Paul and Carol Nye Community Fund.

During the Fall 2017 grant round, $112,736 was awarded to thirteen organizations in Marshall County for the following projects:

  • Blessings in a Backpack:  $5,000 for new summer Culver Blessings in a Backpack program, to help provide food for elementary school children
  • Bourbon Volunteer Fireman, Inc.:  $6,500 to purchase a washer-extractor to provide firefighters’ protection from contaminated gear
  • Bremen Park Dept.:  $1,405 for an automated external defibrillator (AED) for the Bremen Community Pool and Bremen Park System
  • Bremen Public Library:   $3,000 to purchase equipment for a free public recording studio to create instructional programming
  • CASA of Marshall County: $1,384 to purchase 100 “Samuel T. Moore of Corte Magore” books for children in the CASA program and all Marshall County public and elementary school libraries
  • Heartland Artist:  $1,500 to purchase hardware for point of sale accounting and gallery management hardware, to empower Heartland Artist to function efficiently and effectively
  • Marshall County Blueberry Festival:  $14,907 to build 63 picnic tables to benefit the festival and visitors to Centennial Park
  • Marshall County Council on Aging:  $15,200 for matching dollars to purchase a wheelchair equipped vehicle to increase mobility for differently-abled residents
  • Marshall County Neighborhood Center:  $11,340 to replace the roof at the Marshall County Neighborhood Center
  • REAL Services:  $4,500 to provide hot, nutritious meals for seniors at four Senior Nutrition Sites in Marshall County
  • Triton School Corporation:  $10,000 for a 1:1 match towards the purchase of band uniforms
  • Wild Rose Moon:  $13,000 to purchase equipment needed for production to better position Wild Rose Moon as a Marshall County performing arts center
  • Wythougan Valley Preservation/REES Project:  $25,000 for critical building repairs in the restoration project of the REES Theatre

About the Marshall County Community Foundation
The Marshall County Community Foundation is a public charity with local roots that helps great ideas take flight through endowment philanthropy. Since 1991, donors to the Marshall County Community Foundation have built the community’s assets currently valued at $34.7 million and have returned over $14 million to support charitable interests and causes throughout Marshall County.

For more information about the Foundation, call 574.935.9159 or visit www.marshallcountycf.org.