Community Foundation announces upcoming grants
The Community Foundation of the Central Blue Ridge will announce $175,000 in competitive community grants to 25 organizations serving the cities of Staunton and Waynesboro, and the counties of Augusta and Nelson at an event on Thursday, May 31.
The ceremony will be attended by the organizations receiving funding, past and present Community Foundation board members, and several fund partners. Read more
Foundation announces scholarship opportunities
The Community Foundation of the Central Blue Ridge is currently accepting scholarship applications from seniors attending high schools in Staunton, Waynesboro and the counties of Augusta and Nelson.
Additionally, adult students are encouraged to apply for select scholarships such as the Peter Veglahn Memorial Scholarship, established to provide funds for scholarships to college students pursuing a human resources career.
The Community Foundation of the Central Blue Ridge administers over 20 scholarship funds which will yield over $37,000 in scholarships this year. Each scholarship has its own specific purpose, selection and eligibility criteria.
For further information or to download a copy of the scholarship application form, go online to www.communityfoundationcbr.org.
Waynesboro Library a host for One Book, One Community
Waynesboro Public Library, through the sponsorship of the Community Foundation of the Central Blue Ridge and in partnership with the libraries of Augusta County and Staunton, is hosting an area-wide book read called One Book One Community.
The selection this year is Walking Across Egypt by Clyde Edgerton. It is the story of a spunky woman, a stray dog, a teenage delinquent, and the best home cooking in small-town North Carolina. This community read follows in the footsteps of the Big Read hosted once a year from 2008-2011. Read more
Community Foundation announces scholarship opportunities
The Community Foundation of the Central Blue Ridge is currently accepting scholarship applications from seniors attending high schools in Staunton, Waynesboro and the counties of Augusta and Nelson. Additionally, adults are encouraged to apply for select scholarships. Read more
One Book, One Community kickoff
Following the success of the past four years’ Big Read initiatives, the Community Foundation of the Central Blue Ridge, together with the Staunton Public Library, the Augusta County Library, and the Waynesboro Public Library, have joined together to bring One Book One Community into fruition.
The novel of choice is Clyde Edgerton’s best-selling book, Walking Across Egypt. Read more
Community Foundation announces creation of Governor’s School fund
The Community Foundation along with the Shenandoah Valley Governor’s School, is thrilled to announce the creation of the SVGS Director’s Fund in honor of Linda N. Cauley, the first director of the school who retired last year.
Shenandoah Valley Governor’s School has numerous alumni, students, parents and patrons who have expressed an interest in contributing financially to the current and future needs and general welfare of the school. As a result, SVGS seniors, Grant Sauer, Molly Huss and Trevor Fisher established this fund to show their appreciation of SVGS, its staff and the many opportunities offered to them and other students in Staunton, Waynesboro and Augusta County. Read more
Local organizations give back $1.8M in 2011
It began a little over a year ago at a lunch meeting, when the four largest grant makers in the community decided to create a common grant application. “Our community is a fairly small one,” explained Christiana Shields, director of nonprofit services for the Community Foundation. “Many of our local nonprofits apply for funding from more than agency. In the past, each of the four funders had separate requirements and guidelines. Applying for grant funding is already a challenging task, and we wanted to make the process easier.”
A few months and many collaborative edits later – the task was done. In 2011, for the first time, a common grant application was available for all nonprofit organizations that wanted to apply for funding from the Community Foundation, United Way, Augusta Health Foundation, and CAPSAW.
The group continued to meet and collaborate, and when the competitive community grant process was finished for the year, they were delighted to discover they had distributed almost $1 million dollars in funding.
Then, they realized an even larger truth. “If we include our internal programs, like the United Way’s Dolly Parton Imagination Library and Stuff the Bus, our numbers are even greater,” noted Cynthia Pritchard, Executive Director for the United Way of Greater Augusta.
The funders realized that when they took into account all their gift programs, in 2011:
- Augusta Health Foundation distributed $230,000
- CAPSAW contributed almost $200,000
- United Way gave close to $650,000
The Community Foundation, when including awards, scholarships, and designated funds, distributed about $800,000
“It’s a pretty amazing total,” Anna Leavitt, CAPSAW Coordinator observed, “$1.8 million can impact a lot of lives.”
The common grant application for 2012 is due to be released in the next few weeks, and the four foundations continue to work together. Enhanced collaboration is the focus of the future for funders and nonprofits alike.
“All of us want to impact lives, solve problems, and improve futures,” says Becky Kohler, CEO of the Community Foundation. “We are more determined than ever to bring our community partners together to find innovative and effective solutions to some of our most challenging issues.”
