For Immediate Release

Legacy Foundation Awards Over $88,000 in Grants From the Lake County Community Fund

Lake County, Indiana (February 12, 2007)---A diverse group of non-profit organizations serving the residents of Northwest Indiana have been awarded grants from the Legacy Foundation, Lake County’s Community Foundation. Since October, the Legacy Foundation Board of Directors has approved grants for the following projects:

South Shore Arts received $25,060 for funding a two year program entitled ‘Making Memories-- A Family Enrichment Program’.  The project is a collaborative arts-based literacy program that encompasses bookmaking, writing, music, visual art, and drama.

Girl Scouts of the Calumet Council were awarded $6,077 for the implementation of the "Taste of Girl Scouting", a non-traditional program which targets at-risk girls in underserved communities.

The Greater Gary AMVETS Post #6 received a grant of $5,000 for the purchase of commercial kitchen equipment. The AMVETS provide community outreach programs in the Tarrytown and New Brunswick neighborhoods.

Referral and Emergency Services was awarded a grant of $1,900 to purchase computers and related software to complete installation of the Hoosier Management Information System which tracks the demographics and services provided to underserved populations.

The Caring Place, Inc. received $5,000 to purchase computer equipment.

Lakeshore Public Television received $15,000.00 to provide support for a Family Literacy Project---East Chicago and Hammond Initiative. 

First United Methodist Church Hammond received $24,772.00 for equipping computer clusters for the Learning League to implement remedial assistance in math and reading for at-risk children in the School City of Hammond (Kenwood, Wallace and Edison).

St. Anthony Home received a $5,760.00 grant to provide a multi-sensory stimulation environment "creating a Snoezelen ® for Dementia and Alzheimer disease care".

From the John S. & James L. Knight Donor Advised Fund grants were made to: Runnin' Rebels for $10,000.00 to implement the project "Learning and Doing" an educational remediation program; $10,000.00 to Health Visions Midwest to support Maternal Child Health Network projects "cribs for kids" and "covering wet bottoms" to support needy families primarily in the Gary area; $10,000.00 to Trinity Missionary Baptist Church for the Rites of Passage Program, a male mentoring program; and $10,000.00 to Donors Choose as a challenge grant in support of and earmarked for half-funding project requests from teachers in the Gary Community School Corporation.

Legacy Foundation Executive Director, Nancy Johnson, stated that "these grant awards represent the Legacy Foundation's interest in funding a broad range of community projects that impact at-risk and underserved populations in both practical and innovative ways".

The deadline dates for submitting grant applications is 5:00 PM on March 1st, May 1st, September 1st and November 1st. Revised grant guidelines are available on the Foundation's website: www.legacyfoundationlakeco.org/grants. A summary of the revised guidelines may be obtained by phoning the Foundation office at 219-736-1880.

To facilitate the application process, the Foundation requests that applicant organizations schedule a consultation with the Grant Officer prior to submitting a proposal.

• To enable donors to carry out their charitable intent through contributions to a permanent endowment fund.
• To make grants to agencies and organizations that meet the changing needs of the community.
• To serve as a catalyst for positive change and a convener to address community issues.

CONTACT:
Nancy K. Johnson, President
Legacy Foundation, Inc.
219-736-1880 phone
njohnson@legacyfoundationlakeco.org