Community Foundation Awards more than $700,000 in grants from July-December

(Utica, NY) During the second half of 2009, The Community Foundation of Herkimer & Oneida Counties, Inc. partnered with 19 area not-for-profit organizations that work to improve the lives of the residents of our area. Together, these awards totaled $709,060. We are pleased to announce that:

Employees of Catholic Charities of Herkimer County will not have to worry about rain or snow dampening their work thanks to a $50,000 grant to repair the roof of their Ilion building;
As organizations in the DeSales Center continue to grow, they will be able to concentrate on the power of their work rather than the power in their wiring as a grant of $21,900 will allow them to upgrade their electrical system;
Noyes Street, Linwood Place and Jay Street will bloom and grow with raised garden beds and sheds from a grant to For the Good, Inc.’s community garden project;
To increase their capacity to provide programs and services, Herkimer Area Resource Center will be renting office space to other tenants in their new East German Street building to generate income. An award of $60,000 will allow them to have a parking lot for their tenants at this location;

Animals in the care of Herkimer County Humane Society will have a more comfortable place to stay while they await new homes due to a grant of $19,112 that will pay for upgrades to dog kennels and the cat area;
Johnson Park Center received a grant award of $40,000 that will allow them to begin the process of innovating their housing program with the development of environmentally-friendly buildings;
In the Valley, another environmentally-conscious project was granted $6,000. The Little Falls Family YMCA will use their monies to complete an energy conservation project for their building, which will allow them to use fewer resources on utilities and more on programs;
New research into cardiac genetics at the Masonic Medical Research Laboratory will be facilitated by equipment purchased with a $100,000 challenge grant;
The Parkway Senior Center’s RSVP Growing Strong will create a training program that will generate revenue for the wellness program with a grant of $7,500;
An innovative telemedicine program for people with Parkinson Disease will be offered at Presbyterian Homes of Central New York due to a grant of $35,000, allowing patients to have video teleconferences with neurologists at the University of Rochester rather than travelling to appointments;
Patients, families and doctors will benefit from a wireless local area network at Rome Memorial Hospital made possible by a grant of $40,000;
The Salvation Army of Rome will have more room for after-school care and other programs thanks to an award of $4,900 to install new flooring in their community room;
Their neighbors at the Salvation Army of Herkimer received a $6,398 grant that will enable them to offer new programs after the replacement of their gym and community room flooring;
Sculpture Space attracts artists in residence from all over the world, and because of a $40,000 grant for permanent housing, they will always have a place to stay that is close to the Sculpture Space studios;
Biology students at Utica College will get to use new classroom equipment that will be purchased with a $100,000 grant, enabling both students and professors to conduct research in areas such as neuroscience, ecology, toxicology and evolution;
The Utica Public Library will expand its efforts in the community with a branding and marketing campaign to raise awareness of its offerings and increase public usage, thanks to an award of $31,250;
Older adults in Herkimer County will be able to take advantage of an adult day health care program administered by Valley Health Services at Little Falls Hospital, which will be implemented with $100,000 in funding;
Children in the Village of Prospect will soon have an improved playground for games and exercise thanks to an award of $15,000;
Finances are tight in this era of dwindling economic resources, but the Youth Empowerment Project will be able to deliver its services uninterrupted due to a $10,000 emergency grant.

The Foundation has made more than 4,300 grants totaling over $34.3 million in support of causes ranging from education to health care, the arts to the environment. Grants are generated by the more than 260 funds that comprise The Foundation’s endowment, established and advanced by area individuals and families.

For more information about The Community Foundation, call 315-735-8212 or visit www.foundationhoc.org.

Community Foundation Awards more than $700,000 in grants from July-December

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