Yakima Valley Community Foundation announces grants

Grants enable 'greater strides'

By CHRIS BRISTOL
and ERIN SNELGROVE

YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC

A group called Citizens for Safe Yakima Valley Communities has received a huge $405,000 grant package designed to jump-start the organization over the next three years.

The funding comes in large part from the Yakima Valley Community Foundation and allows the group, better known as CSC, to hire a full-time executive director. The group's mission is to improve public safety.

The grant was announced Tuesday at an awards ceremony at State Fair Park.

"We can really go to the next level this way," Yakima County Sheriff Ken Irwin, the incoming chairman of the CSC board, said of the funding Tuesday.

The funding includes $135,000 from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation that was "regranted" by the Yakima Valley Community Foundation, said John Colgan, the group's executive director.

Colgan said his group awarded another $270,000 to CSC over the next three years: $100,000 in 2011, $90,000 in 2012 and $80,000 in 2013.

Colgan praised CSC as a "for real" organization that
began in 2005 as a grass-roots effort and includes influential business leaders
among its dozens of volun-teers. Former chairman Bill Dolsen, president of the Dolsen Companies, accepted the grant award on behalf of current chairman Ken Marble.

"We helped them take some baby steps in 2005, and now we're helping them as they prepare to take some greater strides," Colgan said. "We're really pleased to be able to help."

In addition to an executive director, Irwin said the board also plans to use the grant money to hire a part-time youth coordinator.

The group has had past success with Block Watch organizational efforts, a summer jobs program that has created more than 100 jobs annually since 2007 and implementation of crime-perception surveys in high-crime areas.

In addition to the CSC grant, 25 other groups shared $500,000 in grants -- $450,000 from the Yakima Valley Community Foundation, with another $50,000 from the foundation's Youth Advisory Council.

Also announced was the availability of $780,000 in college scholarships to Yakima Valley natives next spring. The aid stems from a $17 million endowment made to the foundation from Mary Monroe "Mollie" Davis of Yakima.

The interest on her gift is used for college scholarships and is administered by Yakima Rotary Trust. Davis, who made much of her fortune from her parents' lumber and orchard businesses, died in 2008.

The foundation formed in 2004 and began by awarding $220,000 to several groups the following year. It hands out competitive grants each November, while other grants are awarded throughout the year.

The foundation's purpose is to improve the quality of life for Yakima County residents in such areas as education, the arts and health care.

This year, a substantial amount of funding will benefit the youth of Yakima County.

The Youth Advisory Coun-cil, which formed in 2008, receives its funding from the Helen N. Jewett Endowment for Philanthropy. The endow-ment was established when the late Jewett donated $1.25 million to the foundation. From interest earned, $50,000 will be awarded each year in perpetuity.

The winners:

Youth Council Awards -- $50,000

* Aware, $20,000

The funds will enhance and expand Static Clubs that serve middle schools, with an emphasis on eighth-grade students. Through the clubs, students meet in a safe environment to discuss such sensitive topics as abuse, sexting and gangs.

* Catholic Charities Housing Services, $15,000

The grant will help the city of Mabton conceptualize and build a community park in partnership with the nonprofit organization Pomegranate Center.

* Ready by Five, $1,000

The money will help Ready by Five develop a community garden to teach children about gardening, healthy eating and nutrition, ecology and environmental stewardship.

* White Swan Arts & Recreation Committee, $14,000

The funds will help the community develop its long-term plan to build a community park, which will include a skateboard park for youths.

Yakima Valley Community Foundation grants -- $450,000

* Camp Prime Time, $20,000

The award will help pay for furnishings and appliances to outfit a lodge at Camp Prime Time, a nonprofit group that provides outdoor wilderness experiences for seriously ill or disabled children and their families.

* The Capitol Theatre, $2,300

The grant will help the theater offer discounts to youths who can't afford the ticket price to attend "CTeens" programming.

* Children's Activity Museum in Ellensburg, $5,000

The grant, funded by the Lorene M. Petrie Fund, will support a new, interactive science exhibit.

* Children's Village, $50,000

The money will help Children's Village build an outdoor, multi-sensory play area for children with special needs.

* Dispute Resolution Center, $20,000

The funding will pay for staffing, volunteer training and program expenses associated with the "Victim-Offender Meeting" program, which brings juvenile offenders and their victims together to discuss the crime and its impact.

* Generating Hope & Noah's Ark Shelter, $19,000

The grant will be used to purchase a commercial stove and supporting equipment to expand the shelter's meal time.

* Inspire Kids, $34,500

The money will provide salmon tanks for elementary schools, so all fifth-graders in the Yakima Valley can take an ecosystems course and gain hands-on experience with the fish.

* Junior Achievement of Washington, $40,000

The money will help the agency enroll 142 Yakima County fifth- and eighth-graders in JA Biz Town and JA Finance Park -- reality-based, hands-on programs that teach students about issues related to financial literacy and economic vitality.

* Kittitas County Head Start, $5,000

The money will help fund an outdoor learning and play center where children can engage in dramatic play, sensory exploration, music, art and other educational pursuits.

* La Salle High School, $15,000

The grant will pay for supplies associated with the school's Ahtanum CreekKeepers program, which involves students in environmental education and stewardship, creek habitat restoration for fish and wildlife and an on-site fish hatchery.

* Perry Technical Institute, $10,000

The award will help fund a developing Career Services Center, which equips students with the skills they need to obtain employment.

* Ready by Five, $15,000

The grant will help the agency develop a leadership program with East Valley parents, teaching parents about civics, community resources, education and other topics necessary to become community leaders.

* Southeast Yakima Community Center, $20,200

The money will be used to expand night hours at the center and to renovate the existing space as a music studio, where youths can learn about the music and business side of the music industry.

* Stand Up For Outlook Project, $45,000

The agency, in collaboration with Educational Service District 105 and the Yakima County Sheriff's Office, seeks to organize the community of Outlook to address gang violence and to create and maintain jobs for youths. The money will help fund a case manager, summer arts and sports activities for children and other costs associated with cleaning up and empowering a community.

* Toppenish Pro-Youth Committee, $25,000

Funds will be used to build a skate park in Pioneer Park on the existing tennis court.

* United Way of Central Washington, $16,750

The funds will enable United Way to help sponsor nine VISTA volunteers who will be placed in nonprofit organizations throughout the community to address the needs of the poor.

* Wags to Riches Animal Rescue & Sanctuary, $12,000

The grant will help fund the Senior Pet Companion program, which helps homebound seniors take care of their pets -- while the owners are still living and after they become incapacitated or die.

* YMCA of Yakima, $18,000

The grant will enable the YMCA to purchase youth-oriented equipment to make exercise more fun and entertaining.

* YWCA of Yakima, $30,000

The funds will provide the YWCA with an outreach and self-sufficiency coordinator, who will help organize education and training opportunities for domestic violence survivors.

* Yakima Greenway Foundation, $12,250

Funding will support the Greenway's Kiddin' Around program, a childhood obesity-prevention project that offers a calendar of healthy activities for kids and their parents.

* Yakima Interfaith Coalition -- (La Casa Hogar), $35,000

The funds will help La Casa Hogar enhance its "school readiness" program for preschool children, parents and peer teachers through evening and weekend classes.

* Chris Bristol can be reached at 509-577-7748 or cbristol@yakimaherald.com

* Erin Snelgrove can be reached at 509-577-7684 or esnelgrove@yakimaherald.com.