Eastern West Virginia Community Foundation

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Lost River Pride, Inc. Establishes Scholarship with Hardy County Community Foundation

Lost River Pride, Inc. has partnered with Hardy County Community Foundation to provide a $1,000 scholarship each year to one graduating senior from any high school in Grant, Hampshire, Hardy or Pendleton counties who has demonstrated support of and advocacy for the LGBTQ+ community, through the Lost River Pride Scholarship Fund.

Students can apply for the scholarship online at https://www.ewvcf.org/lost-river-pride-scholarship-application or through their guidance offices starting in early December. Applications are due by Feb. 28, 2024.

“Lost River Pride is excited to partner with the Hardy County Community Foundation to launch this new scholarship program aimed at providing financial support to West Virginia’s next generation of leaders and allies,” said Rob Hawks, president of Lost River Pride. “This scholarship is not only an important first step in demonstrating the dedication and commitment of the LGBTQ+ community to creating an enduring legacy, but also a shining example of how we can work together to create a more equitable and inclusive world for everyone.”

The Lost River Pride Scholarship is specifically designed to empower and inspire students who have actively engaged in activities that promote equality and oppose discrimination.

Any high school senior or prior year graduate with financial need enrolling in an accredited college, university, or community/technical/trade school offering a degree program of not less than two years who matches other qualifying criteria will be eligible. Preference will be given to students who choose to continue their education at a West Virginia institution.

For further information about Community Foundation Scholarships, including the Lost River Pride Scholarship, please visit https://www.ewvcf. org/grants-scholarships. For additional information, please call 304-538-3431 or send an email to [email protected].

Lost River Pride is organized exclusively for charitable and educational purposes. It sponsors and produces the annual Lost River Pride Event, and related activities, serving the Lost River Valley lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ+) communities, by educating and advocating nondiscrimination, diversity, pride, inclusion, and equality among the LGBTQ+ community and their allies throughout the Lost River Valley and beyond.

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Scholarship Comes Full Circle – Stanley and Naomi Moyer Scholarship

The Stanley and Naomi Moyer scholarship will now be offered through the Hardy County Community Foundation.  East Hardy High School seniors can apply annually at ewvcf.awardspring.com.

Stanley Moyer was the founding President of the Hardy County Community Foundation and firmly believed in its mission of “improving the quality of life in Hardy County by Connecting People with Community Causes that matter to them most.”

Amy Pancake, the Foundation’s director, was overjoyed to be able to bring the Stanley and Naomi Moyer Scholarship home to the community foundation. “I started working for the community foundation shortly after it was established, so Stanley and I learned together. He was always so kind and patient, and so very encouraging. He made being a part of those early growing years a joy.”

During his last days, Stanley desired to have a scholarship established to give back to the East Hardy students he adored.  A Hardy County bus driver for 31 years, Stanley enjoyed mentoring and building relationships with the students that rode his bus, and he wanted to ensure that part of his legacy would be to help students financially achieve their college goals.

After his death, his wife Naomi, community members, and friends held annual fundraisers to carry on Stanley’s legacy through the Stanley Moyer Scholarship Fund. Naomi continued to award the scholarship until her passing in January 2021. She, too, wanted their memories and legacies to live on through the community and this scholarship.

Since Naomi’s passing, the scholarship was renamed the Stanley and Naomi Moyer Scholarship, and was recently transferred to the Hardy County Community Foundation.

“It certainly feels like a natural transition to continue the scholarship through the Hardy County Community Foundation, an organization Stanley helped establish and lead through its earliest years of growth,” said Pancake.  “It has come full circle, and is where it belongs.”

The community foundation 2023-24 scholarship application will open in December. High School seniors and their parents can check the application status by following the Hardy County Community Foundation on Facebook, or by checking the website for updates: https://www.ewvcf.org/grants-scholarships/

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Hardy County Community Foundation Announces over $23,000 in Grants

Hardy County Schools received a $5,000 grant from the Hardy County Founding Fund to support the Dolly Parton Imagination Library program, which mails books for free once a month to children from birth to 5 years of age. Amanda Riggleman, the Instructional Support Specialist for Hardy County Schools also serves as the program coordinator for the program.

The Hardy County Community Foundation is pleased to announce that it has awarded nineteen grants totaling $23,312.20 to support local organizations and programs. These grants represent distributions from five endowment funds held by the Community Foundation.

The Hardy County Community Impact Fund is an unrestricted grantmaking fund and provides the Community Foundation with the greatest flexibility to respond to the community’s current and evolving needs and opportunities. Grants from this fund include:

  • Big Blue Wardensville – $1,000 for transporting youth to and from the community center;
  • Catholic Charities of WV – $1,000 to provide emergency assistance for Hardy County individuals and families;
  • Children’s Home Society – $1,000 to help foster families purchase necessary safety items;
  • EACHS Head Start – $1,000 for interactive toys that promote healthy habits;
  • Eastern Regional Family Resource Network – $1,000 for its Celebrate the Family programs;
  • Girls on the Run of the Shenandoah Valley – $1,000 to reduce registration fees for their 10-week program;
  • Hardy County Convention & Visitor’s Bureau – $1,000 to locate African American cemeteries in Hardy County;
  • Hardy County Health and Wellness Center – $1,000 for a Strong Swimmers, Safe Kids program which will provide swimming lessons for children;
  • Lost River Educational Foundation – $1,000 to provide a summer series of in-person arts and culture classes;
  • Moorefield Church of God – $1,000 to provide general support for the Lifted Hands Food Pantry;
  • Moorefield Intermediate School – $1,000 for their Leadership Clubs;
  • Moorefield Little League – $1,000 to help with the enclosure of an indoor practice facility;
  • Town of Wardensville – $1,000 for summer youth basketball camps and community volunteer days;
  • Wardensville Lions Club – $1,000 for their Story Time early literacy program.
  • WVU Foundation – $600 for the digitization of the Moorefield Examiner, 1943-1950 editions

Grants from the Elizabeth “Betty” Pancake Williams Youth Development, Education and 4-H Fund and the Renick Cunningham Williams Community & Business Development and Entrepreneurship Fund are also supporting Girls on the Run Shenandoah Valley and the Hardy County Convention & Visitors Bureau programs.

The Deanna Wilson & J Cavanagh STEM Fund supports programs geared towards advancing interest and learning in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math among youth. This fund awarded a $1,000 grant to Farms Work Wonders for a STEM-themed summer camp, and a $1,000 grant to WVU Extension Service to purchase supplies and materials for STEM classes at 4-H Camp and at-home kits for family engagement.

The France Frye & June Orndorff Fund provides support for public parks located in Wardensville, WV. A $727 grant from this fund was awarded to the Town of Wardensville for general support for J. Allen Hawkins Town Park.

The Hardy County Founding Fund is a donor-advised fund, which allows donors broad flexibility in recommending grants to varying charitable organizations and causes. Bonnie Crites and Alicen Adkins received grants to support the existing robotic team at Moorefield High School and, due to high demand, add two new teams for students at the middle and intermediate schools. The Middle School also received a grant to provide materials for a MakerSpace Lab, and Susan Wojtowicz, a MMS English teacher received a grant to purchase 4 classroom sets of novels in verse to encourage student reading.  A special $5,000 donor-advised grant was awarded to Hardy County Schools to help support the Dolly Parton Imagination Library program, which sends one book each month free of charge to any Hardy County child from birth to age five enrolled in the program.

The John R. and Agnes J. Mathias Fund and William “Bill” Sloan and Family Community Giving Fund are both providing funding for the Lost River Project’s Music in the Park summer live music program.

According to Amy Pancake, the Foundation’s Director, funding requests continue to increase. “We received many exceptional applications, including requests from several new organizations,” she said. “We are so pleased and thankful to be able to support a diversity of organizations that are doing such impactful work in our community. Our grants connect our donors and nonprofits around a common desire to build a stronger community and we’ve certainly seen that happen with this grant cycle,” she added. Pancake also said there will be a second grant cycle in late summer focused primarily on schools.

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Hardy County Community Foundation Announces Spring Grant Awards 

The Hardy County Community Foundation is pleased to announce nineteen grants totaling $20,545 to support local organizations and programs. 

These grants represent distributions from five endowment funds held by the Community Foundation.  

The Hardy County Community Impact Fund is an unrestricted grantmaking fund and provides the community foundation with the greatest flexibility to respond to the community’s current and evolving needs and opportunities. Grants from this fund include:

  • Baker Ruritan Club – $1,000 for relocating the club’s BBQ pit
  • Big Blue Wardensville – $1,000 for transporting youth to and from the community center
  • Children’s Home Society – $1,000 to help foster families purchase necessary safety items
  • EACHS Head Start – $1,500 for science-based educational materials to provide more hands-on learning opportunities, and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion education materials
  • Girls on the Run of the Shenandoah Valley – $1,000 to reduce registration fees for their 10-week program
  • Hardy County Health and Wellness Center – $2,000 to purchase equipment to start a youth volleyball league, and to offer free swim lessons for babies and youth
  • Lost River Projects – $1,000 for a summer live concert series, Music in the Park
  • Moorefield Intermediate School – $1,000 for their Leadership Clubs
  • Town of Wardensville – $1,000 for or building improvements for the War Memorial Building
  • Town of Wardensville – $1,000 for the installation of park benches in honor of the J. Allen Hawkins Park “founding moms”
  • Wardensville Lions Club – $1,000 for their Story Time early literacy program
Girls on the Run of the Shenandoah Valley
Girls on the Run of the Shenandoah Valley accept a $1,000 grant to offset registration fees for their 10-week program

The Deanna Wilson & J Cavanagh STEM Fund supports programs geared towards advancing interest and learning in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math among youth. This fund awarded a $1,000 grant to Moorefield High School to support the school’s Robotics Team, and a $1,000 grant to WVU Extension Service to purchase supplies and materials for STEM classes at 4-H Camp and at-home kits for family engagement.

The France Frye & June Orndorff Fund provides support for public parks located in Wardensville, WV. A $730 grant from this fund was awarded to the Town of Wardensville for general support for J. Allen Hawkins Town Park.

The Hardy County Heritage Fund is a donor-advised fund, which allows donors broad flexibility in recommending grants to varying charitable organizations and causes. The fund’s advisors recommended a $5,000 grant to The River House in Capon Bridge for their Color our World Summer Camp Program.

A new fund, the John R. and Agnes J. Mathias Fund, supports arts, culture, and music programs in Hardy County, and awarded its first grant this spring to the Lost River Educational Foundation. They received $315 to host free Make & Take community workshops.

According to Amy Pancake, the Foundation’s director, funding requests continue to increase.

“We received many exceptional applications, including requests from two new organizations,” she said. “We are so pleased and thankful to be able to support a diversity of organizations that are doing such impactful work in our community. Our grants connect our donors and nonprofits around a common desire to build a stronger community and we’ve certainly seen that happen with this grant cycle,” she added.

The Hardy County Community Foundation, an affiliate of the Eastern West Virginia Community Foundation, is a charitable organization committed to providing people who care about the future of our area with unique and effective ways of supporting their community now, and for generations to come. Community foundations number more than 800 across America with 25 in West Virginia and focus entirely on working with local individuals to build local assets to meet local needs. 

To learn more about the Community Foundation including information about starting your own fund or contributing to an existing fund, visit our giving page  or contact Amy at [email protected] or 304-538-3431.

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Volunteer Hardy Scheduled for August/September

 

The Hardy County Community Foundation is seeking participants for its 4th annual Volunteer Hardy initiative. Volunteer Hardy is the Community Foundation’s attempt to call attention to the invaluable contributions nonprofits, and the volunteers who serve them, make to their local communities and Hardy County.

Volunteer Hardy seeks to promote the work of local volunteer-driven organizations by encouraging and promoting fundraising events held during a specific time of year.  This year’s initiative will take place during the months of August and September.

The intent of the initiative is to remind people of the impact our local nonprofit and civic organizations have on our communities and to encourage not only financial support of their work, but to also consider getting involved in their efforts.

Organizations wishing to participate in this year’s initiative should download the 2017 Volunteer Hardy Letter for details about the event.

Romney Office
Post Office Box 40
91 South High Street
Romney, WV 26757
[email protected]
304.822.7200

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Vision

To build vibrant communities that provide opportunities for everyone living in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia.

Mission

To inspire philanthropy, serve donors, strengthen communities, and improve the quality of life in Eastern West Virginia now and for future generations.

Values

We honor the philanthropic vision of our donors and value their generosity. We respect the work of nonprofit organizations and the passion they bring to carrying out their missions. We earn the trust of our grantees, donors, and partners through our commitment to excellence in our stewardship and our dedication to accountability, integrity, professionalism, and transparency in all our actions. In all our work, we actively embrace accessibility, inclusion, racial and social equity, and the unity that comes from diversity.