The Eastern West Virginia Community Foundation mailed grant checks from the Detlev and Mary Ellen Preissler Fund for the Arts, Music, Design, and Nature on Tuesday, May 24. Twelve Eastern Panhandle nonprofits received grants ranging from $2,325 to $10,000.
Several general support grants were awarded, while others focused on specific programs or projects ranging from an outdoor teaching space with a living roof at Potomac Valley Audubon Society’s Cool Spring Preserve to Martinsburg-Berkeley County Public Libraries’ “Martinsburg Rocks!” concert series in collaboration with the Tony M Music and Arts Foundation.
“We are delighted to be able to award these grants to so many worthy organizations,” stated EWVCF Executive Director, Michael Whalton. “Until now we haven’t had the resources to provide this kind of support for programs focused on the arts and nature.”
Just over $100,000 in grants were presented to the twelve nonprofits, and nearly $49,000 in grants will soon be awarded to Eastern Panhandle schools for art, music, theatre, design, and nature programs and projects. The advisors who recommended the grants were impressed with the quality of the applications and the summer programs that received funding are already gearing up to put the grants to good use.
In Jefferson County, the Contemporary American Theater Festival will use its grant to provide fair wages to college interns working with CATF this summer. Funding for the Old Charles Town Library will create a Children’s Art Center. Shepherdstown Day Care is offering a pottery class with Ms. Joy. The Appalachian Chamber Music Co., Black Box Youth Playhouse, and Friends of Music are all using their grants to support their programs.
Martinsburg-Berkeley County Public Libraries, Potomac Valley Audubon Society, and the Boys & Girls Club of the Eastern Panhandle will offer a variety of programming during the summer. And, in Morgan County, the Black Box Music Cooperative, Morgan Arts Council, and Wind Dance Farms & Earth Education Center will all be able to provide expanded programs for children thanks to the grants they received.
The Eastern West Virginia Community Foundation (EWVCF) was established in 1995 to help donors create permanent endowments to provide grants and scholarships. Since its inception, EWVCF has awarded $13.7 million, including $1 million in 2021 alone. The Community Foundation now holds more than 260 endowed funds with assets of just over $38 million and it 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 contact EWVCF Executive Director Michael Whalton at mwhalton@ewvcf.org, 304-264-0353.