The Parkersburg Area Community Foundation (PACF) and Regional Affiliates announced support for nonprofit organizations and charitable projects throughout the region through its fall Community Action Grant program. The PACF awards grants from a variety of funds created by individuals, organizations, and area businesses to support critical community needs. The PACF’s grant awards this fall total $234,838. The Foundation’s three affiliates awarded additional grants, including $4,775 from the Doddridge County Community Foundation (DCCF), $3,365 from the Ritchie County Community Foundation (RCCF), and $3,400 from the Little Kanawha Area Community Foundation (LKACF).

“The Foundation is supporting several innovative educational projects at local elementary schools in this grant cycle,” said Associate Director for Community Leadership Marian Clowes. “A broadcasting project at Kanawha Elementary School and a drone project at Madison Elementary will both provide opportunities for students to engage in learning in new and exciting ways.”

Several other grants focus on food access. “Food insecurity remains a major challenge for many residents of our area,” said Clowes.

“We are so grateful to the Parkersburg Area Community Foundation for their continued support of our Mobile Food Pantry,” said Jeremy Lessner with Catholic Charities. “The most recent grant is helping us purchase a box truck with refrigeration capabilities to serve our families in need; having this truck will allow us to provide more food to these families as well as healthy produce, dairy, and meat that requires refrigeration.”

Many of the requests submitted through the PACF’s Community Action Grants Program receive support from Donor Advised Funds at the PACF. Donor Advised Funds enable the fund creators to participate in grantmaking by recommending grants from their fund on an ongoing basis.

“Our donor advisors allow us to nearly double the amount of grants awarded each grant cycle,” said Clowes. “Support from our Donor Advised Funds enables many more projects to receive funding than would be possible solely through the Foundation’s discretionary grantmaking funds.”

To be considered for a Community Action Grant, an applicant must be a private, nonprofit organization or a public institution.  Either the applicant or program to be funded must be located in the Foundation’s eleven-county geographic service area (Calhoun, Doddridge, Gilmer, Jackson, Mason, Pleasants, Ritchie, Roane, Wirt, and Wood counties in West Virginia, and Washington County, Ohio). 

The fall 2021 Parkersburg Area Community Foundation & Regional Affiliates grant recipients are:

  • AFL-CIO Appalachian Council, Inc. – $5,000 to provide educational support and tutoring to children being raised by grandparents
  • American Red Cross of the Ohio River Valley – $10,000 to support Blood Saves Lives: Fighting Cancer, which works to ensure a safe and reliable platelet and blood supply for individuals battling cancer
  • Boys and Girls Club of Pleasants County – $3,500 to provide accessible playground equipment for the county park
  • Building Bridges to Careers – $7,000 to provide Makerspace classes and memberships to individuals in recovery
  • Catholic Charities West Virginia – $10,000 to support the purchase of a new box truck with refrigeration for the mobile food pantry serving Ritchie, Doddridge, Calhoun, Wirt, and Roane Counties
  • Children’s Museum of the Mid-Ohio Valley – $49,000 to support exhibit development and construction
  • Doddridge County Middle School – $1,000 to support an educational trip to Washington D.C. for eighth grade students
  • Gilmer County Ambulance Service – $9,805 to purchase a LIFELINE ARM automated chest compression device
  • Golden Girl, Inc. – $6,000 to provide supplemental education and workforce development skills to residents to prepare them for future employment
  • Habitat for Humanity of the Mid-Ohio Valley – $15,000 in operating support to help grow the ReStore and meet long-term financial and program service goals
  • Kanawha Elementary School – $3,926 to purchase equipment for the Brave House News Broadcast, a student-run daily all school broadcast to celebrate positive character traits
  • Madison Elementary School – $6,266 for the Madison C.O.P.T.E.R.S program, which will incorporate drone instruction into the curriculum
  • Normantown Historical Community Center – $4,578 to expand the clothes closet and sewing room
  • North Bend Rails to Trails Foundation, Inc. – $8,165 to install bicycle repair stations on the trail
  • House to Home – $13,000 to construct an outside shelter
  • Parkersburg South High School – $500 to purchase an air purifier for the health office
  • Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing, Inc. – $10,000 for programs to provide therapeutic fly fishing activities, including equipment and overnight trips, to veterans with disabilities
  • Ritchie County Sherriff’s Office – $10,000 to support the purchase of a K-9 unit
  • Ronald McDonald House Charities of Pittsburgh and Morgantown – $3,500 to support the Family Lodging Fund, to provide lodging for families from the PACF service area
  • Save a Kitty Feral Cat Program – $1,000 for spay/neuter assistance and the purchase of food to address reduction of feral cat population
  • South Parkersburg United Methodist Church Lunch Sack Program – $5,000 to support the purchase of food for weekends and holidays for students from three local elementary schools
  • Strait Creek Food Pantry – $10,843 to expand current food storage capacity
  • The Community Action Program of Washington-Morgan Counties, Ohio – $5,000 to assist with the purchase of a hot meal delivery truck
  • Waverly Volunteer Fire Company – $15,000 for building repairs and renovations
  • Wirt County Development Authority – $17,000 to install additional lighting at Sportsman Park
  • Wood County Parks and Recreation Commission – $9,995 to purchase a wood splitter for the Mountwood Park Family Campgrounds
  • Wood County Society – $6,300 to purchase equipment for metalworks for the Artbeat Studio social enterprise
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