Grants Awarded from the Unrestricted Funds Approved by the Board of Trustees
Great Miami YMCA – ($2,000) This grant supported the Activate Butler County Program designed to battle the epidemic of obesity and unhealthy lifestyles in our community.
Fitton Center for Creative Arts - ($50,000) This grant supports youth programs at the Fitton Center. Research continues to grow demonstrating significant evidence between improved brain functioning and quality arts participation by children. We support the programs at the Fitton Center that enhance and improve the quality of life for area youth.
Miami University Hamilton - ($20,000) These funds support the Miami University Hamilton Downtown Center which offers educational, cultural and arts programming in downtown Hamilton. The downtown center supports educational opportunities and enhances the economic vitality of our downtown two primary goals of the Foundation’s strategic plan.
SELF Group Work Camps – ($10,000) During the week of July 4, 2010, over 100 volunteers from the Group Workcamps Foundation traveled to Hamilton and worked with more than 200 local volunteers to provide maintenance and repair to 37 homes owned by individuals physically or financially unable to do the work. By the end of the project, over 5,925 volunteer hours were expended resulting in significant improvements to the selected homes. This Foundation grant provided money to purchase needed supplies for the project.
Pyramid Hill Sculpture Park – ($50,000) These grants provided support for this 265 acre park to assist with programs and activities. Pyramid Hill offers a beautiful setting, spectacular outdoor sculptures, a holiday lighting display, a new antiquities museum, programs and activities for all ages. It is listed as the second most popular tourist attraction in Butler County.
Butler County Challenger Baseball League – ($3,000) These funds were granted to assist with improvements to the Challenger baseball facility at Crawford Woods Park in Hamilton. These funds provided a match to a grant provided by the Foundation’s Youth Philanthropy Committee.
People Working Cooperatively – ($10,000) This grant was used to assist homemakers with need repairs to their homes. PWC works collaboratively with area organizations and individuals to identify residents in need and assisting with needed home repairs.
College Access Programing – ($100,000) per year for three years. These funds are used in a variety of ways to support the Foundation’s goal to enhance educational opportunities for our residents. One use of the finds is to bring programming to area schools to help students and families understand the importance of continuing education beyond high school, learning how to pay for post-secondary education and how to choose the right school and program. Programming for this is provided by Murray and Associates and the Center for College Costs, an organization funded in large part by the Lily Endowment.
Additional funds are utilized to hire a Youth Exploring Success (YES) Advocate to work in the Hamilton City Schools educating students and their families about realistic educational goals and helping them take the necessary steps to achieve those goals.
Butler County Historical Society – ($84,192) This capital grant provided funds to assist with the construction of a new research center and entryway at the Butler County Historical Society at 327 North Third Street. The Foundation’s funds provided the needed dollars to complete the project and were used to supplement the generous capital grant made by Mrs. Olive Randall allowing for this project.
Shared Harvest Food Pantry – ($10,000) These funds assisted Shared Harvest as they worked to meet the increased demand for food from the pantries and residents of Butler County.
Salvation Army – ($5,000) This grant provided funds to assist with emergency needs of area residents provided by the Salvation Army.
Emergency Money Fund – ($5,000) Funds were granted to assist with emergency needs in the community by the Emergency Money Fund.