In the 2013 competitive grant program, Marion Community Foundation received 53 grant applications with requests totaling $1.4 million. Current funds at MCF provided for $680,000 in awards.
“It is significant to note that while the amount of awards has doubled since last year’s grants program,” said MCF president Brad Bebout, “the amount of requests has tripled. There is much need in the Marion community and we are pleased to be able to support so many Marion area organizations. We are increasingly doing so through matching fund grants to make every dollar awarded go as far as possible.”
“Matching grants require the recipient organizations to go to other sources and donors for new funding. MCF will then match, dollar-for-dollar, new money that they raise. At first, it might appear to be a burden, but it’s actually a helpful tool for the organization to develop new gifts that they might not have otherwise received if it were not for the match. It encourages organizations to broaden their horizons and not become dependent on MCF,” Bebout said.
The competitive grant program draws awards from 12 funds managed by Marion Community Foundation specifically for the purpose of supporting local charitable programs and organizations. The increase in grants awarded is due in large part to the Wopat Funds which have now come to maturity.
“While the funds involved in our competitive grants program provide a great deal of support to Marion charities, it is worth noting that these funds are only a small portion of the more than 160 funds currently in the Foundation’s portfolio,” said Bebout. “Thousands of dollars of additional grant funds are awarded each year from designated and donor advised funds in addition to the competitive grants program.”
Marion Community Foundation awarded 27 grants in its 2013 Competitive Grants Program — six mini-grants and 21 major grants. The recipients and awards are as follows:
Mini-Grant Awards (up to $2,500)
- Dayspring Wesleyan Church, $2,500 in support of Marion Upward Sports scholarships and their Mini-Hoop program;
- Marion Area Chamber of Commerce, $2,100 to provide scholarships for three local nonprofit organizations to participate in the Chamber’s Leadership Marion! program;
- Wopat Marion Family YMCA, $2,500 to support the Arthritis Foundation’s exercise program, Land and Water;
- Wopat Marion Family YMCA, $2,500 in support of the Delay the Disease exercise program for individuals with Parkinson’s Disease;
- Mid-Ohio Fine Arts Society, $1,000 in support of MOFAS’ gallery exhibits at the Barlow Arts Center inside the Women’s Club Home; and
- Peace and Freedom Committee, $2,500 in support of the Martin Luther King Jr. Scholarship Breakfast and to fund scholarship awards for their speech contest winners.
Major Grant Awards:
- Abundant Life Assembly of God, $10,000 in continued support of Royal Family Kids’ Camp, a 5-day camp for neglected, abused and abandoned children;
- Boys and Girls Club of Marion, $50,000 to fund the Healthy Habits Start Here program, which seeks to combat childhood obesity;
- Center Street Community Health Center, $120,000 in ongoing support of the operation of Marion’s free medical services for the uninsured and underinsured;
- Crawford-Marion ADAMH Board, $30,000 for their medication assisted treatment program for persons with opiate addictions;
- Crawford-Marion ADAMH Board, $4,000 in support of their youth education program “Preventing Prescription Drug Abuse;”
- I CAN Center for Excellence, $6,000 in ongoing support of the ACT Empowered program at Marion Harding High School;
- I CAN Center for Excellence, $15,000 to expand the ACT Empowered program to all Marion County high schools;
- Marion Area Counseling Center, $25,000 in support of their Marion Community Housing Assistance Program to prevent homelessness;
- Marion Area Counseling Center, $22,500 in continued support of the school-age education program Signs of Suicide;
- Wopat Marion Family YMCA, $21,874 in support of Pioneering Healthier Communities’ 2014 events to combat childhood obesity and promote healthy lifestyles;
- Marion Matters, $30,000, which includes $15,000 to fund a Getting Ahead Class skill development program for impoverished families; $7,500 to serve as a matching funds grant for an additional Getting Ahead Class; and $7,500 for purchase of a computer, software, and additional administrative and operational support;
- Marion Shelter Program, $5,000 toward operational costs of the homeless shelter;
- Mobile Meals of Marion County, a grant of $10,000 for their meal assistance program, with an additional $2,000 available in a matching funds grant;
- Ohio Heartland Community Action Commission, $32,500 in ongoing sponsorship of the United Community Rx Program, co-founded by Marion Community Foundation and United Way of Marion County;
- Palace Cultural Arts Association, $20,000 to fund an engineering study for needed exterior building restoration at the theatre;
- Prairie Parks Foundation, $150,000 in support of the Phase 3 expansion of the Marion Tallgrass Trail; with this grant, Prairie Parks will qualify for an additional $450,000 award from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources;
- Prevent Blindness Ohio, $5,000 for a vision care outreach program to low income individuals in Marion County;
- Ronald McDonald House Charities of Central Ohio, $5,000 to their 2014 Helping Hands Program, to fund overnight stays for Marion County families with seriously ill children;
- Rushmore Academy, a $25,000 grant, combined with an available $12,500 matching funds grant, to pay student wages in their Rushmore Academy Jobs Program;
- Salvation Army, $49,000 in support of their Food & Crisis Intervention services; and,
- Turning Point, $5,000 in support of their In-School Prevention Program to address issues of teen dating violence in area middle and high schools.
In the past 14 years, MCF has awarded more than $6 million in grants and scholarships. Its funds address the Marion area’s varied needs in healthcare, the arts, environment, education, economic development, and other facets of local residents’ quality of life.
Marion Community Foundation may be reached by calling 387-9704 during standard business hours. The offices are located inside the Stengel-True Museum at 504 S. State St. Information is also available online by visiting the Foundation’s website at marioncommunityfoundation.org.
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