Town signage, reptile housing, murals among $212K in grant projects

Twenty-one organizations have received funding for projects around Wayne County, ranging from additional food for the hungry to adult day care scholarships and removal of dead trees.

Wayne County Foundation has announced the recipients receiving a share of $212,626 through Grant Cycle III and other third-quarter opportunities.

Some of the grants support projects in individual communities, such as $11,750 for Cambridge City Main Street. Funds will be used for designing and installing navigation signs, permanent signage on National Road and traffic management signage, and deploying a digital map and information service for the town.

Some agencies plan to expand their service areas through this funding. Gleaners Food Bank of Indiana Inc. received $15,000 to fulfill the needs of families and individuals who fall outside the reach of agency partners in Hagerstown and Richmond.

Some recipients are based in one community but benefit the whole county. One example is the Children’s Justice and Advocacy Center, based at 1400 Chester Blvd. in Richmond, best known as JACY House. A total of $15,000 will be used to help kids learn how to respond if they face abuse and help adults prevent or respond to signs of child sexual abuse.

Grants administered through WCF’s grant cycles are designed to support local programs or projects that enhance community spirit and improve quality of life across Wayne County.

“There are so many wonderful initiatives in Wayne County,” said Rebecca Gilliam, WCF’s executive director in a news release. “We were pleased to be able to offer grant funding to support their success.” 

For Grant Cycle III, WCF received 23 funding requests totaling more than $266,600. Nineteen organizations were awarded a combined $204,726.

WCF also funded two mini grant requests totaling $7,900 from Daughters of the American Revolution and Sunrise Therapeutic Riding Center.

Recipients:

• Birth to Five: $15,000 to support the Parent as Teachers and Healthy Families programs.
• Boys & Girls Clubs of Wayne County: $14,920 to expand art programming at two Club sites and provide materials to expand art forms used in programs.
• Bridges for Life: $7,500 to continue the free Dinner at the Lamp program at First Presbyterian Church in Richmond.
• Cambridge City Main Street: $11,750 to design and install navigation signs, permanent signage on National Road, traffic management signage, and deploy a digital map and information service for the town.
• Central UMC Preschool and Childcare: $10,665 to support installing a safety and security entrance system.
• Children’s Justice and Advocacy Center, Inc.: $15,000 to educate children about how to respond if faced with situations of abuse and to give adults the skills to create a safer environment for children by preventing, recognizing and reacting responsibly to child sexual abuse.
• City of Richmond – Richmond Sanitary District: $14,405 to enable RSD staff to learn “How to Conduct a Baseline Data Waste Audit” with training from a professional waste and recycling services organization.
• Cope Environmental Center: $15,000 to expand preschool programming, add and improve Nature Playscape, and develop a self-guided tour option for schools and teachers.
• Gleaners Food Bank of Indiana Inc.: $15,000 to fulfill the needs of families and individuals that fall outside the reach of agency partners in Hagerstown and Richmond.
• Hand-in-Hand Adult Day Center: $15,000 to provide scholarship funding for participants and families having financial need.
• Joseph Moore Museum: $14,980 to purchase three new enclosures to house five reptiles living at the museum on Earlham College’s campus.
• Lifestream Services Inc.: $13,200 to implement the “Proxy Pantry” program serving low-income, homebound seniors.
• National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution: $5,000 for the inaugural year of the Wreaths Across America initiative in Wayne County.
• Richmond Art Museum: $12,500 to expand and strengthen the Art is… multicultural, hands-on educational program.
• Richmond Community Orchestra: $2,700 to purchase additional new music and pay music licensing fees. A concert is being added during the solar eclipse weekend in collaboration with Hagerstown High School.
• Richmond Indiana Pickleball Inc.: $5,986 to make court improvements to increase safety for players and spectators.
• Richmond Symphony Orchestra: $4,920 to support a video reels program, hiring a videographer to capture video during rehearsals, concerts and events. 
• Salem Cemetery Association, Inc.: $1,200 to add several signs to help bring more awareness to the cemetery and grounds.
• Sunrise Therapeutic Riding Center: $2,900 to add fencing to create fields based on horses age, size and temperament.
• Wayne County Cardinal Greenway: $5,000 to remove dead ash trees posing a safety issue along the trail.
• Wayne County Convention and Tourism Bureau, Inc.: $10,000 to support the 2024 Wayne County Murals project.

So far this year, WCF has awarded 54 organizations a total of $538,228. Grants are made possible by individual donors who’ve created funds benefiting the county.