This spring, Berkeley, Jefferson, and Morgan County nonprofits received $150,000 in grants during the Eastern West Virginia Community Foundation’s (EWVCF) Winter/Spring grant cycle. Forty grants ranging from $500 to $12,000 each were awarded to Eastern Panhandle nonprofit organizations for a variety of different programs.
The Foundation’s Winter/Spring grant cycle awards funding to a myriad of projects and programs, including Animal Welfare, Healthcare, Historic Cemeteries, Housing, Human Welfare, and Senior Care. Thirty-two Eastern Panhandle organizations will be able to use their grants to continue their vital work tending to so many of our community’s needs. “The Community Foundation team is proud to be able to provide a variety of grants to nonprofit organizations doing such important work across the Eastern Panhandle. Thanks to our generous donors who provide the funds for the grants, and our dedicated committee members who review every application, our Winter/Spring grants will support critical work throughout our region,” said incoming Executive Director of EWVCF Susan Caperton.
Of the $150,000 total, Animal Welfare groups received $4,000 in grants; Healthcare programs received $35,000; over $15,000 went to Jefferson County organizations for the maintenance of local Historic Cemeteries; charities tackling homelessness and affordable Housing received over $10,000; Human Welfare programs received nearly $25,000; Senior Care groups received over $60,000.
In Berkeley County, CCAP Loaves and Fishes received four grants for their programs serving low-income, underserved, and disadvantaged individuals. CCAP provides supplemental food items and many forms of financial assistance to our neighbors in need; the organization received Healthcare, Human Welfare, Senior Care, and Housing grants this cycle. Other organizations that received Winter/Spring grants for their programs serving Berkeley County include Faith Feeding Freedom, Berkeley County Meals on Wheels, the Martinsburg Initiative, Otterbein United Methodist Church, and Sleep in Heavenly Peace.
Organizations serving Jefferson County received nearly $30,000 in grants. Two of those grants were for Animal Welfare programs, benefiting the Animal Welfare Society of Jefferson County and Veterinary Community Outreach. Both of those organizations will use their grants to help provide low-cost spay and neuter services to pet owners in the county. At Harpers Ferry Middle School, librarian Jill Fornadley will use her Human Welfare grant to fill the school’s clinic closet with spare clothes, shoes, toiletries, and school supplies for students who need them. Other organizations that received grants for their programs serving Jefferson County include the City of Charles Town, Community Networks, Edge Hill Cemetery, Jefferson County Community Ministries, Jefferson County Historic Landmarks Commission, and Meals on Wheels of Jefferson County.
Morgan County Starting Points and Senior Life Services of Morgan County received Senior Care and Healthcare grants, respectively, for their vital programs serving seniors in Morgan County. “Over twenty percent of the total population of Morgan County is elderly,” reports Senior Life Services Executive Director Tamara Kees. “Although the majority of the elderly population is totally independent, there are many who do not have that luxury,” she continued. SLSMC will use their grant to continue to provide transportation to their clients, which Kees describes as one of the major components of their operation. Morgan County Starting Points will use their grant to support the Meal Time Community Kitchen, a program that has provided hot meals to seniors and other community members for nearly twenty years now.
Grants totaling $67,000 were awarded to organizations with programs serving more than one Eastern Panhandle county. Operation Press Paws, Rescue Me WV, and To The ResQ received Animal Welfare grants to provide spay and neuter services. Good Samaritan Free Health Clinic, B&B’s Health Boutique, and Jefferson County Community Ministries received Healthcare grants to continue their work providing high quality care to patients in need. Community Networks and Faith Community Coalition for the Homeless received Housing grants. Panhandle Home Health, Community Markets, and Berkeley Senior Services received Senior Care grants. Community Combined Ministries, CASA of the Eastern Panhandle, Junior League of the Eastern Panhandle, The Blessings Closet, Martinsburg Union Rescue Mission, and Catholic Charities WV all received Human Welfare grants to fulfill a wide variety of needs in Berkeley, Jefferson, and Morgan County.
The Eastern West Virginia Community Foundation (EWVCF) was established in 1995 to help donors create permanent endowments to provide grants and scholarships throughout the region. Since its inception, EWVCF has awarded $15 million dollars, including nearly $1.5 million dollars in 2023. The Community Foundation now holds more than 290 endowed funds with assets of just over $40 million and is the leading steward of philanthropic giving in the region. EWVCF works with a wide range of nonprofit organizations, providing funding for projects from human welfare and scholarships to affordable housing and natural resources conservation, youth and education to animal welfare and historic preservation, and much more. For information visit www.EWVCF.org or call 304-264-0353.