Just over $50,000 in grants were awarded by the Eastern West Virginia Community Foundation to nonprofit organizations and schools in the Eastern Panhandle during the third annual Emeritus Council & Nonprofit Leaders Lunch that was held at the Purple Iris in late August. Grants from the D. Scott and Linda Roach Fund, the Bill and Nancy White Charitable Fund, the McMillan Family Fund, the Berkeley County Industrial Park Development Fund, and the Solomon Fine Memorial Fund.

The largest grant awarded came as a complete surprise to the recipient. Thanks to the generosity of Legacy Society member Solomon Fine, an endowed fund was created in his Will that is awarding grants in excess of $15,000 every year. The award is presented to a nonprofit organization that has done exceptional work in Martinsburg-Berkeley County during the previous year. The recipient of the 2018 Solomon Fine Memorial Fund grant is the Shenandoah Women’s Center for their outstanding work protecting victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking and human trafficking.

The Berkeley County Industrial Park Development Fund was created in 2009 by the Development board as all lands in its jurisdiction were developed and projects were completed. Annual distributions from the fund support economic development, job creation, workforce development, business recruitment and creation, and employability training initiatives. Seven grants were awarded from this fund in 2018:

$7,772 to Blue Ridge Community & Technical College for their JumpStart Scholarship Program for grade 12 students from Berkeley County.

$6,250 to Spring Mills High School for their Simulated Workplace Venture – Cardinal Catering Company.

$5,500 to Catholic Charities WV Migration and Refugee Services to train eight interns to serve the needs of our diverse community.

$4,690 to James Rumsey Technical Institute for their Civics Class Career Exploration and Personal Finance Program.

$2,000 to Faith Community Coalition for the Homeless for the Employment Action Team partner program with Immanuel’s House.

$2,000 to Family Resource Network of the Panhandle for their Soft Skills Training Program.

$2,000 to Horizon Goodwill Industries for the Get Onboard Job Readiness Program.

The Martinsburg Sunrise Rotary Foundation received a total of $2,000 in grants for their Read Berkeley Program that last year provided eight books and a backpack to each of 186 second graders in four Berkeley County elementary schools. The Sunrise Rotary Club hopes to double the number of students that receive books this school year.

An Outdoor Classroom at North Jefferson Elementary School will be built by volunteers from the Kiwanis Club of the Blue Ridge and Engineers Without Borders. Partial funding or $1,000 was awarded to help with the project. Walmart provided an additional grant for the project which is scheduled to be constructed in September.

Applications for the Community Foundation’s Mini Grants to Teachers are being accepted until October 19. The next Competitive Grant program which awards youth, education, healthcare, human welfare, housing, and historic cemetery grants goes live on the website in mid-October and applications may be submitted until December 5th of this year. Awards for these grant programs will be announced in February.

The Two Rivers Giving Circle has honored Jefferson County historian P. Douglas Perks with its 2018 Preservation Award.

The award recognizes Perks many years of support for historic preservation. It was presented during the Jefferson County Historical Society’s annual picnic, held August 1 at Fruit Hill Farm in Shepherdstown. Perks received a handcrafted platter made from local clay by award-winning potters Pam and Ren Parziale, of Sycamore Pottery in Leetown.

The accompanying photo shows Perks, center, with the following Giving Circle members, from left to right: Virginia Rowzie, of Charles Town; Eleanor Finn, of Shepherdstown; Jane Davis, of Berkeley Springs; and Dan Rowzie, also of Charles Town.

The Two Rivers Giving Circle is a donor-advised fund of the Eastern West Virginia Community Foundation. Since its inception in 2008, it has provided grants totaling more than $68,000 to Eastern Panhandle organizations engaged in historic preservation and natural resources conservation. It is one of the few grant makers in the region that focuses on these two fields.

Each year, the Giving Circle also recognizes an individual who has been a leader in one or both of these fields.

A retired social studies teacher who resides in Shepherdstown, Perks has been active for many years in promoting greater understanding and appreciation of Jefferson County history.

He currently is historian of the Jefferson County Museum and of Shepherdstown’s Elmwood Cemetery Association. He is also is a certified park guide at Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, Vice President of the Harpers Ferry Park Association, and a member of the Historic Shepherdstown. Commission’s museum committee.

Perks was a founding member of the Charles Town Library Civil War Roundtable, and during the Sesquicentennial of the Civil War, from 2011-2016, he co-organized a series of seminars about developments in the County during the War years.

He worked closely with the Jefferson County Black History Preservation Society to preserve Charles Town’s Webb-Blessing House, one of the first structures in Jefferson County built by a free African American.

Perks is a frequent lecturer on the history of Jefferson County, a contributing author to the Magazine of the Jefferson County Historical Society, writes the column “Mr. Jefferson’s County” in the Jefferson County Historical Society newsletter, and writes the weekly column “History Matters” to the Spirit of Jefferson newspaper.

The West Virginia Division of Culture and History recognized him as one of the state’s “History Heroes” in 2017.

Individuals interested in joining or contributing to the Two Rivers Giving Circle should contact Michael Whalton, executive director of the Eastern West Virginia Community Foundation, at 304-264-0353 or info@ewvcf.org. The cost of membership is $500 annually. Contributions of any amount are welcomed.