The Parkersburg Area Community Foundation and Regional Affiliates (PACF) is supporting the health, human services, recreation, and education needs of our community through its fall grant awards. At a December 4 reception, the PACF announced $203,381 in grant awards to support charitable projects benefiting the residents of the region.
Through the Foundationâs bi-annual Community Action Grants Program, area nonprofits seek grant assistance to address community needs. To be considered for a Community Action Grant, an applicant must be a private, nonprofit organization, tax-exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, or a public institution. Either the applicant or program to be funded must be located in the Foundationâs eleven-county geographic service area (Calhoun, Doddridge, Gilmer, Jackson, Mason, Pleasants, Ritchie, Roane, Wirt, and Wood counties in West Virginia, and Washington County, Ohio). Submitted applications are considered for support from charitable funds managed by the Foundation that are designed to support a wide variety of projects and causes throughout the region.
The fall 2019 Parkersburg Area Community Foundation & Regional Affiliates grant recipients are:
American Red Cross of Northwest West Virginia Chapter - $4,000 to install smoke alarms in homes and assist families impacted by house fires
Boys and Girls Club of Parkersburg - $15,000 to replace the HVAC unit serving the gymnasium
Boys and Girls Club of Pleasants County - $2,020 to purchase materials and supplies to enhance Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math programs
Calhoun County Committee on Aging - $4,550 to replace an air conditioning unit
Calhoun County Family Resource Network â $7,500 to provide healthy food for limited-resource senior citizens
Calhoun County Schools - $9,650 for suicide prevention programs
City of Spencer - $6,400 to renovate the Spencer Armory
Doddridge County Family Resource Network - $2,650 to purchase bedding for youth through the annual Good Shepherd Tree Program
Ely Chapman Education Foundation - $6,700 to purchase a new commercial dishwasher
GFWC Parkersburg Womanâs Club - $5,000 to support the Brown Bag project, which provides nutritious food for weekends for students in need at McKinley and Emerson Elementary Schools
Gilmer County Family Resource Network - $2,000 to support the teen shoe box project, which provides hygiene items, gloves, and socks for teens at Christmas
Harmony Mental Health - $3,750 to assist with renovations to their new facility in Elizabeth, WV, where they provide counseling services and trauma-informed care
Healthy Grandfamilies Coalition - $5,000 to provide meals at educational programs to help grandparents who are raising grandchildren
Mid-Ohio Valley Foster Grandparent Program - $4,000 to support seniors who mentor children in schools and nonprofits organizations in the region
Normantown Historical Community Center - $10,575 to replace a roof on their facility in Gilmer County
Parents and Friends of the Hearing Impaired - $5,000 to provide hearing aids to limited-resource individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing
Parkersburg and Wood County Public Library - $15,000 to upgrade technology and equipment
Regeneration/Packs of Plenty - $3,500 to provide food to Ritchie County students on weekends and school holidays
Ritchie County Family Resource Network - $1,000 to purchase hygiene and cleaning products to be distributed to low-income individuals
Rosenbaum Family House and WVU Medicine - $5,000 to assist with costs for patient families from the PACF service region who stay at the house during care and treatment for a loved one or family member
South Parkersburg United Methodist - $6,000 to support the Backpack Blessings Program, which provides food on weekends to students from Martin, Gihon, and Fairplains elementary schools
The Salvation Army - $15,000 to upgrade kitchen equipment to provide hot and nutritious meals to those who struggle with poverty and hunger
Voices for Children â CASA - $11,400 to support programs that provide direct services through volunteer advocacy for abused and neglected children
Wood County Schools - $15,000 to support training and implementation of Safe Talk, a suicide prevention program
Wood County Society - $12,500 to support staffing for the new ArtBeat Studio, a collaborative and adaptive community art studio
West Virginia Health Right - $6,500 to purchase dental supplies for the mobile dental unit serving Roane County residents
West Virginia University at Parkersburg - $5,000 to purchase supplies and equipment for two summerTeen Tech Academies to provide Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math experiences for area youth
YMCA of Parkersburg - $12,500 to purchase a Microsoft Surface Pro for each of ten after-school sites to use for academic mentoring and for general operating support
In addition, through the support of the Tamara K. Brown Helping to Heal Fund, the Hollow Creeks Fund, and the Mid-Ohio Valley Endowment for Women, Children, and Families, the PACF provided support to school nurses at the following schools to purchase equipment to help them meet student health needs:
Blennerhassett Elementary School - $250 to purchase period preparedness kits for 5th grade girls
Blennerhassett Middle School - $60 to purchase an automatic wrist blood pressure monitor
Franklin Elementary Center - $246 to purchase a "Stop the Bleed" kit and supplies to address traumatic injuries
Greenmont Elementary School - $230 to purchase a refrigerator to store medications
Kanawha Elementary School - $150 to renovate gym shower rooms for student use
Parkersburg South High School - $250 to purchase CPR training supplies
In addition to the grants announced above, the Foundationâs Ritchie County, Doddridge County, and Little Kanawha Area Community Foundation affiliates recently announced an additional $8,950 in grants to organizations providing services in Ritchie, Doddridge, Wirt, Calhoun, and Gilmer counties.
