In the span of just a half-hour Thursday, the Community Foundation of the Central Blue Ridge pumped $175,000 into charities and nonprofits.
The agencies run the spectrum from hospice care to public transportation, but they have at least one thing in common. That common thread is need - far more than even the Community Foundation can reach.
The group was able to hand out checks to two dozen nonprofits in Staunton, Waynesboro and Augusta, meeting needs from adult education to counseling for low-income families.
A new Staunton headquarters and a new infusion of money will help Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) guide abused and neglected children through the court system.
Michael Nay with CASA said, "Our volunteers report directly to the judge to let the judge know where the child is, and then the goal is for them to have a permanent home - a home that's safe and a home that's nurturing."
CASA will be able to train more volunteers, with a $5,000 grant from the Community Foundation of the Central Blue Ridge. In its 20th year, the foundation gives a half-million dollars in scholarships, teacher awards and these community grants. They reach a wide variety of nonprofits, like the Valley Mission, no longer just a homeless shelter.
Sue Burkholder with the Valley Mission said, "We've seen an increase in families coming into the mission. This award will help us to provide a place for them to be, and services for the children."
Grants will also help the GReat Aspirations Scholarship Program, Inc. (GRASP), which helps students get into college, and afford it.
Karen Doran with GRASP said, "We wouldn't have been here at all had it not been for the efforts of the Community Foundation."
Those efforts required a foundation committee to work through 55 applications, totaling more than $400,000.
Christiana Shields with the Community Foundation said, "When the grants start coming in in January and you read and you evaluate, you get to the point where you think - ‘Ugh, I wish so much we had more.'"
The foundation has a $12 million endowment. That money is invested so that grants, scholarships and other awards come out of the interest earned, and the endowment can meet community needs for decades to come.
