Marshall County Community Foundation Awards $116,212 in Grants

Grants supporting new, innovative projects throughout the county

The Marshall County Community Foundation (MCCF) announced the Fall 2019 grants from the Community Fund during an awards presentation held Wednesday, October 9, 2019. 

 

Twice each year, nonprofit organizations are invited to submit funding requests for collaborative projects. MCCF Grants Committee members evaluate the proposals, with special interest in new projects, and conduct site visits during a competitive application process.

The first grants from the unrestricted Community Funds at MCCF were awarded in 1995; since then the MCCF has awarded over $4.1 million in total grants from these funds alone. During the Spring 2019 grant round, $117,628 was awarded to 15 nonprofit organizations in Marshall County. Together with the Fall 2019 grant awards, a total of $233,840 has been granted to the Marshall County community during the two 2019 grant rounds.

In addition to the MCCF Community Fund, several named unrestricted funds also support new and emerging needs in Marshall County. These funds include the Barbara and Ralph Winters Community Fund, the Brian and Patricia Kitch Family Community Fund, the C & M Overmyer Unrestricted Endowment Fund, the iAB Financial Bank Community Fund, the John and Kay Finlay Community Fund, the Philip and Sylvia Bieghler Community Fund, and the Paul and Carol Nye Community Fund.

“As we award the Fall grants today, I want to highlight an exciting way you can help give even more grants to local programs,” said Linda Yoder, Executive Director of the MCCF. “The Lilly Endowment is offering a 2:1 match – called GIFT VII -- to gifts donated to the Community Fund. We have the opportunity now to TRIPLE your donations to the Community Fund!”

“The larger we can grow the Community Fund, the more money we will have to grant to exciting new projects like what you see today,” continued Yoder. “You can learn more about the GIFT VII 2:1 Match at www.marshallcountygives.org/GIFTVII or call us to learn how to triple your donations.”


Community Fund Grants: 

Community Fund endowment funds are the most flexible and responsive of the Foundation’s funds in addressing current and emerging needs. Grants from unrestricted endowment funds typically support projects focusing on the arts, education, health and human services, recreation, and the environment.

  • · Argos Izaak Walton: $4,500 to rebuild foundation wall and restore a piece of Marshall County’s history.
  • · Bremen Community Cares:  $18,000 to construct a new men’s and women’s American’s with Disabilities Act (ADA) accessible bathroom in the Bremen Community Center.
  • · Culver Main Street Corporation:  $4,250 for a creative, artistic place-making project for the local firehouse. Plans include a large painted mural and seating space along Lakeshore Drive.
  • · David’s Courage:  $3,750 assist in application and surveyor’s fees to obtain national accreditation.
  • · Discover Plymouth:  $12,500 to complete a funding match for a comprehensive Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan for Marshall County.
  • · Heartland Artists Gallery: $2,445 to host three pop-up art exhibits in various locations throughout Marshall County in 2020.
  • · Marshall County Council on Aging:  $17,767 in matching dollars to help purchase two replacement vehicles for Marshall County public transit programs.
  • · Plymouth Lions Club: $3,000 to purchase a pediatric auto refractor to perform vision screenings for young school age children.
  • · Walkerton Public Safety: $10,000 to upgrade the dispatching radio equipment.
  • · WNIT Public Television: $2,500 to support the Education Counts program.

Multiple year grants

  • · David’s Courage: $6,250 to support David’s Courage and their new addiction treatment center.
  • · Garden Court: $25,000 to support the building of a new Permanent Supportive Housing project to provide wrap-around services to the chronically homeless population in Marshall County.
  • · Marshall County Crossroads Stellar Application: $6,250 to support a Walk to School and Wellness Bucks program to encourage healthy physical activities among Marshall County’s students.

About the Marshall County Community Foundation

The Marshall County Community Foundation is a public charity with local roots that helps great ideas take flight through endowment philanthropy. Since 1991, donors to the Marshall County Community Foundation have built the community’s assets currently valued at more than $36.6 million and have returned over $16 million to Marshall County communities in grants and scholarships, $4.1 million from Community Funds. For more information about the Foundation, call 574.935.9159, or visit www.marshallcountycf.org.