The Greene County Community Foundation awarded $214,903 in grants at the 2023 grant awards reception held March 26 at the First Presbyterian Church fellowship hall in Jefferson.
Community Foundation board president Karen Shannon served as emcee. She noted that in 2005, the foundation’s first grant cycle, grants totaled $37,000.
The funds available for grantmaking increased significantly when Wild Rose Casino opened, and again with the $500,000 bequest from Alice Walters to the foundation’s endowment fund.
Grow Greene County, which holds the gaming license of Wild Rose Casino, provided the Community Foundation with $150,000 for grantmaking in the current cycle. Another $64,900 came from the foundation’s endowment fund. That amount represents 5 percent of the fund total.
Grants were awarded as follows:
City of Churdan – Riding mower, $13,424
City of Grand Junction – Tractor accessories for tree removal, $6,821; and two lifeguard stands and portable stairs for the swimming pool, $6,635
City of Rippey – Paint for Community Center/library, $2,925
Friends of Rippey – Refurbish former outdoor skating rink as pickle ball courts, $11,756
Greene County Action Resource Center – cement for parking area, $6,830
Greene County Community Center – rock climbing wall adjacent to swimming pool, $12,215
*Greene County Community Schools – Software and VR hardware for math/science curriculum at high school, $18,953
Greene County Conservation – Replace pedestrian bridge at Squirrel Hollow park, $34,000
*Greene County libraries – AED and staff training for all six libraries in the county, $9,700
Greene County Extension & Outreach – Commercial picnic tables for north side of building, $2,280
Greene County Fair Association – Concrete pad near Clover Hall, $9,940
Greene County Youth Athletic Association – Wrestling equipment for use at Scranton Community Center, $16,404
Jefferson public library – After Mouse Play touch table for children’s department, $4,500
*Jefferson Matters: Main Street Tower View Team – Rooftop art installation, $1,250
Our Community Health Foundation – Dolly Parton Imagination Library for Greene County preschoolers, $4,500
Paton-Churdan Booster Club – basketball shooting machine, $3,499
Paton public library – Drinking fountain, $1,500
*The Children’s Center – Playground equipment, $35,000
Thomas Jefferson Gardens – Equipment for farmers market, $5,985
Town & Country Band – Percussion equipment, portable sound system, trailer tires, stand lights, $1,975
Rippey public library – Update internet, update non-fiction collections, $4,800
*Grant funded by Greene County Community Foundation endowment fund
