The Lenawee Community Foundation is accepting applications for Knight Fund Grants and Area Community Grants.
The V.C. and Velma Knight Memorial Fund awards grants addressing basic needs, health, and human services in Lenawee County. Grant requests will be reviewed by Foundation staff and the Knight Fund Grants Committee prior to submission to the Board of Directors for approval. To honor the donors’ wishes and achieve the greatest good, highest consideration will be given to programs that:
- Provide direct services to individuals and families.
- Leverage resources through funding partnerships, matching grants, or sharing of other resources.
- Can be sustained without continued funding from the Lenawee Community Foundation.
- Encourage collaboration and do not duplicate existing services.
- Encourage volunteerism, civic, or community involvement.
Area Community Grants, benefitting residents of specific Lenawee geographic areas, are supported by three sources of funding:
- Lenawee Cares. Through this Foundation program that annually raises funds and makes grants, donors made gifts in 2017 or pledges (collected throughout 2018) of nearly $17,000, that are designated for their hometowns.
- Area Community Funds. The Foundation has created endowed funds for most of the communities in our county from which earnings are utilized for grants for the specified communities.
- Donor Funds that specify a community. For example, the Thomas & Ellen Hummel Adrian Area Fund is endowed to last forever and make grants from the earnings towards programs benefitting residents their home community.
Area Community Grants through Lenawee Cares will go to health and human services with an emphasis on basic needs. The other funding resources are more flexible, and in addition to health and human services can support civic projects, culture, and education.
Grants will be awarded in Addison/Manitou Beach, Adrian, Blissfield, Britton, Clinton, Deerfield, Hudson, Morenci, Onsted, Sand Creek, and Tecumseh. To be eligible to receive grants from the Lenawee Community Foundation, organizations must be not-for-profit and provide direct services.
In addition to grants to other nonprofits, the Lenawee Community Foundation provides several programs that directly serve people. The Imagination Library delivers books monthly to preschool children. The Lenawee YOUTH Council involves teens in volunteering and making grants while VOLUNTEER Lenawee! engages people in volunteering and publishes a Resource Guide.
Interested applicants for either grant should contact Paula at the Lenawee Community Foundation at (517) 423-1729 or paula@lenaweecf.com to discuss the program for which funding will be requested and to obtain the grant application. Grants are due by August 1.
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Written by Paula Trentman, Vice President and Program Manager, Lenawee Community Foundation
