PUBLISHED ON November 15, 2007
Yakima Herald-Republic
Section: Main/Home Front
By ADRIANA JANOVICH YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC
The Yakima Valley Community Foundation awarded more than a dozen grants to local nonprofit organizations Wednesday.
The group, whose mission is to improve the cultural, economic, social, health and educational quality of life for residents of Yakima County, gave away $325,000 in 16 grants ranging from $2,500 to $40,000.
"I wish we had the resources to fund all the worthy programs that applied," YVCF president John P. Colgan said in a news release. "That day will come, but we are not there yet."
The awards, part of the philanthropic foundation's Community Impact Grant Program, were announced during at luncheon at the Red Lion Hotel Yakima Center. The 2007 grant recipients are:
* Circle of Success: $15,250 for "Early Literacy" programs for children up to 5 years old.
* City of Grandview: $15,000 to replace playground equipment at Westside Park.
* Enterprise for Progress in the Community: $30,000 for its new Nonprofit Distribution Center. EPIC provides early childhood education and family services.
* For A Better Tomorrow: $5,000 to develop a resource center for homeless youth.
* Heritage University: $40,000 for equipment for a new Clinical Laboratory Sciences program.
* Kittitas Valley Community Hospital Foundation: $3,250 for training for a new medical records system.
* The Yakima chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness: $21,000 to develop Crisis Intervention Training for Yakima Valley law enforcement officers.
* Nuestra Casa: $18,000 to help educate immigrants in the Lower Valley on matters of mental health.
* Provident Horizon Group: $40,000 to develop an Adult Day Health program for people with disabilities.
* Special Olympics: $2,500 to support Yakima County's cycling team.
* The Capitol Theatre: $35,000 for its "Capitol Kids in the Classroom" program, which provides Yakima County youths access to live theatrical events.
* Wapato Wrestling Club: $8,000 to expand its program to include other sports.
* Warehouse Theatre Company: $5,000 for a new sound system, including technologies that provide aid for the hard-of-hearing.
* Nursing Program at Yakima Valley Community College: $36,000 for a computerized simulation mannequin.
* Yakima Valley Museum: $25,000 for a feasibility study to explore a satellite downtown site.
* Yakima Family YMCA: $26,000 for equipment for "Midnight Madness," a new program designed to give high school students a safe and fun place to go on Friday nights.
The foundation, in its third year of operation, also contributed nearly $440,000 to Yakima Specialties, an organization that provides employment opportunities for disabled adults. That's the sum of a promissory note for a loan the Sisters of Providence co-signed to support Yakima Specialties. The promissory note became an asset of the Yakima Valley Community Foundation earlier this year.
The foundation formed in 2004, and initial funding - approximately $8 million - was provided by the Sisters of Providence. When the Sisters decided to sell Providence Yakima Medical Center and Providence Toppenish Hospital, they gave the assets of the Providence Health Foundation to the community foundation. Health Management Associates, the buyer of the two hospitals, pledged an additional $10 million to the foundation over 10 years.
The foundation also manages other charitable funds created by individuals, families and corporations. Some donors set up funds without restrictions, or dedicate them to broad or specific areas.
* For more information about the foundation, visit www.YVCF.com.
