Heritage Fund awards Community Fund grants

(Columbus, Indiana) The Board of Directors of Heritage Fund – The Community Foundation of Bartholomew County recently approved the following grant awards to deserving organizations whose programs benefit the residents of Bartholomew County. All grants were awarded from the Community Fund.  Each year, through generous support from community members, this fund distributes approximately $500,000 to nonprofits through a competitive grant application process.

Grant recipients were:

• The Columbus Park Foundation has been awarded a grant for the Jolie Crider Memorial Skate Park renovation project. HFBC will match dollar for dollar any funds raised by the community to support the park renovations up to $50,000.
• Advocates for Children has been awarded $30,400 to engage consulting group Loring, Sternberg, & Associates. Consultants will help Advocates evaluate their development, governance, and volunteer management strategies so the organization can best address the growing needs of children in our community.
• HFBC will contribute $40,000 to the Mark and Wendy Elwood Substance Abuse Prevention Fund. This fund was established by the Elwoods in 2017 to challenge the community to raise $500,000 for substance abuse prevention initiatives and programs. The Elwoods are matching dollar for dollar any community donations up to $500,000. So far, the community has raised more than $250,000 to support this effort.

In addition to these grant awards, HFBC has also recently awarded grants to the following organizations:

• Columbus Indiana Philharmonic – $10,000 to purchase cloud-based customer relationship management software
• Thrive Alliance – $10,000 to seek accreditation from two nationally recognized organizations, both providing enhancements to Thrive’s aging and disability services
• Sans Souci – $7,817 to cover the cost of a new server
• Mill Race Center – $3,000 for Foundation Search software
• Bartholomew County Public Library – $1,995 for online foundation directory

About Heritage Fund

Heritage Fund – The Community Foundation of Bartholomew County was formed as a community foundation in 1976 with the purpose of continuing a legacy of giving by providing an opportunity for all citizens to make gifts and establish charitable funds to benefit the local community. It was created primarily to:  provide responsible stewardship of gifts donated for broad charitable purposes; promote leadership to address community issues; serve as a catalyst for positive change in partnership with others; and promote philanthropy broadly within the community.