Starting in 2009, the fund will award a $5,000 grant to the Marion County Health Department for assisting those with disabilities with health services. The department will be authorized to use up to $500 per individual.

Supporting and funding programs that promote the general welfare and recreation of people with disabilities, along with those that provide assistance, will maintain the balance.

The award is named after Helen Cunningham who was active with the Society for the Handicapped of Marion County, and its predecessor, Easter Seals, since its inception in 1948. Her husband. Robert, was the organization’s founder arid himself a polio victim. Helen devoted herself especially to the society’s preschool program which was eventually named The Helen Cunningham Helping Hands Preschool.