The Eastern West Virginia Community Foundation’s newly established Frank C. Fischer Veterans Fund was created to support nonprofit and faith-based organizations, civic groups, and government entities that offer programs for United States Veterans. Since this is the very first year that the Community Foundation is awarding grants from the Fund, we decided to ask the readers of our newsletters and Facebook pages to recommend organizations serving Veterans in Jefferson, Berkeley, Morgan, Hampshire, and/or Hardy Counties.

The response was overwhelming, and we heard from readers about 26 programs that are doing remarkable things for Veterans in our communities. With $10,000 to award from the Frank C. Fischer Fund, we were challenged to come up with a fair and equitable way to thank more than just a few of these worthy organizations. Not willing to whittle down the number, we decided to add $3,000 from our EWVCF Endowment for the Community and award a $500 grant to each of the 26 nominees.

Congratulations to one and all! Thank you for the great work you do to support United States Veterans in our region. We are so pleased that Leslie Crabill at BCT Bank of Charles Town helped FC Fischer establish this Fund, and we look forward to awarding grants from it every Veterans Day.

Here are the 26 organizations that will be receiving $500 grants from the Frank C. Fischer Veterans Fund!

• Access 304
• American Legion Auxiliary Green-Copeland Unit 63
• American Legion Auxiliary, Moorefield unit 64
• American Legion Post 137
• Capon Post 2102 Auxiliary
• Eastern Action
• Faith Feeding Freedom
• Harpers Ferry & Bolivar Veterans Honor Guard
• Horses with Hearts
• Hospice of the Panhandle
• Martinsburg Union Rescue Mission
• Meals on Wheels of Berkeley County
• Moorefield Church of God
• Moorefield Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 9606
• People of Worth
• Senior Life Services of Morgan County
• Student Veterans of America at Blue Ridge CTC
• The River House
• Thin Line Service Dogs
• To The ResQ
• Tri-County Veterans Suicide Prevention Coalition
• Valley View United Inc.
• Veterans Upward Bound
• Voices Against Domestic Violence
• Wanishi Foundation
• Wardensville Lions Club

Since 1995, the Eastern West Virginia Community Foundation has been dedicated to improving our local communities and connecting donors to the most pressing needs in Berkeley, Jefferson, Morgan, Hampshire, and Hardy Counties. As a center for charitable giving, we support the arts, feed the hungry, expand literacy, improve health, and champion countless other meaningful causes. Our work is supported by a broad base of individuals, families, businesses, and organizations connected by the desire to improve our region.

Over the past ten years, our Partners in Philanthropy have contributed nearly $400,000. These gifts, which come from local, regional, and national companies, bolster the Community Foundation’s grantmaking through our Mini-Grants to Teachers program and Community Impact Funds. In 2020, when local nonprofits faced unprecedented challenges during the Covid shutdown, our Partners in Philanthropy helped us respond quickly and we awarded $350,000 in grants to locally-based programs that provided critical services to our most vulnerable neighbors. We couldn’t do the work we do without the help of our generous business partners.

Throughout our five-county region, the Community Foundation supports local nonprofit organizations and the individuals and families they serve. In addition to providing annual sponsorship support, several business partners have established donor-advised funds (DAF) at the Community Foundation. You can learn more about the benefits of creating a DAF at the Community Foundation in the article that follows. We certainly hope you might be interested in our Partners in Philanthropy program or in establishing a donor-advised fund and we are here to answer your questions. Click on the link below to download more details.

PARTNERS IN PHILANTHROPY SPONSORSHIP FLYER & INFORMATION

 

HCCF Board Chair Michael Cheshire presents a mini grant to Slanesville Elementary School teacher Jackie Heath.

More than $10,000 in grant funding was dispersed to teachers and staff at Hampshire County Schools and EACHS Head Start through the Hampshire County Community Foundation’s Mini Grants to Teachers program, which has awarded more than $78,000 in teacher mini grants since 2014.

Teachers throughout the county are encouraged to submit their needs for new classroom programs through a simple application at the beginning of the school year. Each teacher is eligible for up to a $500 award. These awards are intended to help teachers motivate and challenge their students to learn. Examples of Teacher Mini Grant awards include books for classroom libraries, comfortable spaces for independent reading, STEM materials even including drones, music and art supplies. Counselors, librarians, and school nurses are also eligible to apply.

“The Mini-Grant program connects teachers to community support, often providing additional financial resources to facilitate exciting, innovative programs,” says HCCF director, Amy Pancake. “It is a great way to thank our educators for their tremendous impact in Hampshire County.”

Twenty-three projects were funded with the support of Hampshire County Schools and donors to Hampshire County Education Fund, including:

Augusta Elementary School
Charlotte Woleslagle – $360.00 – 5^th grade comprehension novel study
Barbara Ray – $472.71 – Inspiring Genius
Destiny Mullan – $489.66 – A “Handy” Way to Learn
Jennifer Metzler – $500.00 – Hand 2 Mind Learning

Capon Bridge Elementary School
Christian Shank – $462.00 – Hands-on Sight Words: Engaging Activities to Boost Reading Skills
Ann Huffman – $425.00 – Bring on Cooperative Groups
Kelly Miller – $500.00 – Math and Reading Station, Organization and seating

Capon Bridge Middle School
Arianna Pownall – $500.00  – Dissecting & Lava Lamp Science Activity
Joyce Main – $500.00 – Anatomical models for science classroom
Patricia Crowley – $500.00 – Anatomical models for science classroom

EACHS Head Start
Kelly Rayner –  $500.00 – The Importance of Literacy and Arts

Hampshire High School
Michael Anderson – $478.00 – Airbrush Set for Class
Amanda Whitacre  – $500.00 – Earth and Space Science
Beilan Su – $500.00 – Science Calculators
Jessica Evans – $500.00 – Exploring Earth and Space Science
Tina Lee – $500.00 – Lockdown Buckets
Adam Feazell – $250.00 – FLEX Student Support
Mary Basinger – $492.18  – Strategies for Success in Math Classroom
Sadie Alkire – $500.00 – Pride & Spirit Yearbook
Lindsay McNelis  – $300.00 – Novels for English 9

Romney Elementary School
Lisa Hughes – $462.73 – Development of Executive Foundation Skills for Success

Romney Middle School
Crystal Rexrode – $500.00 – STEM Beautification

Slanesville Elementary School
Jackie Heath – $500.00 – Flexible Seating

Gifts to the Education Fund may be made at any time. Making a gift of support for this program is easy (and tax deductible). Checks may be payable and mailed to: HCCF, PO Box 40, Romney, WV 26757 with “Teacher Grants” in the memo, or donors may make an on-line gift by going to https://www.ewvcf.org/donate/ and selecting the Hampshire County Education Fund from the drop-down menu.

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/