The Hancock County Children’s Choir was among four recent recipients of mini-grants form the Community foundation of Hancock County, which awarded the choir a $1,500 grant for storage cabinets and shelves.
Submitted photo
HANCOCK COUNTY — Mini-grants are making a big impact for four local organizations.
Last week, the Community Foundation of Hancock County announced the grants, which total just over $5,000.
The Hancock County Children’s Choir received $1,500 for music and equipment storage.
Recycle Hancock County, formerly known as Hancock County Solid Waste Management District, received $1,500 to publish an updated A-Z Recycling Guide.
The Jane Ross Reeves Octagon House was awarded $1,250 to reseal the parking lot at the historic home, while Sugar Creek Baptist Church in Greenfield received $1,000 to host a grief conference.
Katie Ottinger, community investment and grants officer for the community foundation, said the mini grants are designed to help organizations fund long-term solutions for emergencies and changing needs. The grants were issued from a pool of funds set aside each year to meet needs that arise outside of the major grant cycles, she said.
Pastor Steve Blanchard was overjoyed to receive a $1,000 grant to host a grief conference at his church, which draws an average of 20 parishioners each Sunday.
“Our church is a very small church and our budget is very small, so we wouldn’t have been able to do it without it,” said Blanchard, who said the funds will help cover the cost of advertising, registration costs and a meal for those attending.
Blanchard said the grief conference evolved after two church members — one who lost a baby more than 20 years ago, another who more recently lost a spouse — were discussing the challenges of coping with grief.
“We were talking one day and just helping each other kind of work through that, and I just realized that there were other people who needed to have that same kind of help,” said Blanchard, whose wife Cathy, a hospice chaplain, will be among the featured speakers at the conference.
Registration is now open online at MySugarCreekBaptist.com.
Joanna Crump was also thankful to receive a mini-grant for the Hancock County Children’s Choir, which used the funds to purchase enhanced storage at both the choir’s office and rehearsal venue.
Before procuring a new storage cabinet, “sheets of music were overflowing in other cabinets, but now the music is stored neatly and is easily accessible to our music librarian, making her tasks of filing music and preparing students’ binders much easier,” said Crump, the choir’s director of finance.
The choir also purchased a new rolling shelving unit for use at its rehearsal venue inside Mount Comfort Church, which allows for much easier transportation of keyboards, music stands, benches and more.
“This improved storage is helping us steward our property well, prolonging its usefulness and minimizing staff and volunteer hours spent both on locating needed items and putting items away after use,” said Crump, who sang the community foundation’s praises for the financial help.
“Not only are we appreciative of the financial support we have received (from the foundation over the years), but we are equally as grateful for the nonprofit networking and professional growth opportunities provided by them,” she said.
Paul Allen had equally appreciative things to say about the community foundation after hearing the Jane Ross Reeves Octagon House received a $1,250 grant to reseal the parking lot at the iconic Shirley landmark.
“We think it’s wonderful because we are completely funded by grants and donations. We certainly appreciate the community foundation’s support,” said Allen, who anticipates the resealing will get underway as soon as workers are available to do the job.
“That seems to be the biggest problem right now. So many contractors are very busy,” said Allen, a board member and also a great-great-grandson of the home’s original owner, Jane Ross Reeves.
“As a family member it’s so heartwarming to see the work the volunteers have done and the support the community foundation (and other supporters) have given us over the last 30 years,” he said.
