This fall, the Eastern West Virginia Community Foundation (EWVCF) awarded over $90,000 in Youth Grants to local nonprofits. Twenty-one 501(c)3 organizations received grants ranging from $500 to $5,000 this November for their programs addressing the needs of the youngest members of our community and their families.
Nonprofits with programs serving youth and families across Berkeley, Jefferson, and Morgan County received nearly $40,000. Nonprofit programs serving solely Berkeley County young ones received over $22,000. Sleep in Heavenly Peace, an organization new to the Community Foundation, received a grant to aid in their mission to build and deliver beds to kids in need across the county.
Organizations serving Jefferson County received nearly $13,000 to boost their programs, including the new Blue Ridge Food Pantry. Established this year, the Food Pantry received a grant that will help them both purchase and safely store the food they provide. Nonprofits serving Morgan County received over $17,000 for several tried-and-true programs such as Morgan Arts Council’s STEAMWorks, and BlackCat Music Cooperative’s music camp.
Over $30,000 in grants went to organizations providing basic needs to Eastern Panhandle residents. Berkeley County BackPack Program, Community Combined Ministries, Community Networks, Faith Community Coalition for the Homeless, and Morgan County Starting Points each received $5,000 grants to continue their vital work providing food and shelter to children and families in need.
Nonprofits with outdoor and recreation-based programs received $18,000. Potomac Valley Audubon Society received four grants to continue both their Nature in the Neighborhood summer camps and their in-school programs. Wind Dance Farm and Earth Education Center will use their grant to purchase equipment and supplies for their expanding outdoor classrooms.
Other categories funded by the Foundation’s Youth grants included Arts and Music, which received over $13,000. Jefferson County Parks and Recreation received a grant to host a 6-week children’s summer concert series in 2024, which may include music, magicians, puppetry, and side-show performers.
Literacy programs received nearly $16,000, with grants going to organizations such as Martinsburg Sunrise Rotary Club, which provides ten free books to every second-grade student in Berkeley, Jefferson, and Morgan county. Shenandoah Community Health Foundation received a grant for their Pediatric Early Literacy project, which aims to promote early literacy by having healthcare providers “prescribe” books to young patients and encourage families to read together.
Several organizations also received grants to help continue their vital work tending to the social and emotional health of young ones in our community, with mental health care programs receiving $12,500 in grants. CASA of the Eastern Panhandle received a grant for their Fostering Futures program, helping to mentor young ones on track to “age out” of the foster care system. The Eastern Panhandle Juvenile Drug Court received a grant to continue their vital work treating and counseling youth ages 10-17 with substance abuse issues.
All of EWVCF’s grants are made possible thanks to the generosity of our donors. Funding for these Youth grants came from the Jane P. Snyder Youth Fund, C. Scott and Elizabeth C. Shade Youth Fund, Bonn Poland Family Roundhouse Recreation Fund, Frada Fine Berkeley County Education Fund, Tom and Virginia Seely Morgan County Children’s Fund, Arch Gleason Memorial Fund, Calarama Farm Fund, Steeley Foundation Fund, Mayor Harriet Johnson Fund for Youth and Education, and the Bill and Nancy White Charitable Fund.
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 over $1.3 million dollars this year alone. The Community Foundation now holds more than 290 endowed funds with assets of just over $38 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.