Akron Community Foundation’s Millennium Fund for Children is celebrating $500,000 in grants to children’s programs throughout Summit, Portage and Medina counties. The fund’s grants committee recently approved 26 grants totaling $41,935 to arts, education and health programs, bringing the cumulative grant-making total to $538,844. Akron Community Foundation’s board of directors ratified the grants at its Dec. 6 meeting.
A partnership of the Akron Beacon Journal and the community foundation, the Millennium Fund for Children began in 1999 when local residents donated their last hour’s pay of the millennium. Since then, people have donated gifts of all kinds and sizes, growing the fund to more than $700,000 and making more than 300 grants to provide holiday gifts for children in foster care, live music and theater performances for area students, food and clothing for at-risk infants, and much more.
Akron Community Foundation President and CEO John T. Petures Jr. said the Millennium Fund’s mission is to support programs where a small grant can make a big difference.
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“Many of the fund’s grantees are grassroots organizations,” he said. “Not only are they closest to the needs of the community, they really know how to stretch a dollar.”
By giving to the Millennium Fund for Children, residents can also stretch their charitable dollars, he said. “Your gift will be combined with thousands of others and will grow over time, so even a small amount can make a big difference.”
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To donate to the Millennium Fund for Children, visit www.akroncf.org/give/millennium.
The following grants were awarded this year:
ACCESS Inc., to provide meals, clothing and school supplies for children living at the shelter, $2,000
Act II Productions DBA: The Illusion Factory, for free live theater performances for children in need, $1,975
Aladdin Foundation of Akron, to purchase window air conditioning units for families with premature infants or children with chronic respiratory illnesses, $1,000
Autism Society of Greater Akron, for a multi-sensory story time program at the library for children with disabilities, $1,345
Caring for Kids Inc., to purchase holiday and birthday gifts for children in foster care, $1,900
CASA Board Volunteer Association Inc., for the CASA Holiday Toy Shop, which provides gifts to abused and neglected children in the Summit County court system, $1,000
Children’s Concert Society of Akron, to help children from low-income families attend the Concert Hall Series, $1,500
Christ Child Society of Akron, to provide essential newborn items and child safety literature to mothers of at-risk babies, $2,000
Community Pregnancy Center Inc., to purchase formula for the Feeding Hungry Children program, $2,000
Cuyahoga Valley Youth Ballet, to help children from low-income families attend live dance performances at the Akron Civic Theatre, $1,500
First Congregational Church of Akron, for the Peanut Butter & Jelly Outreach Program at Mason Community Learning Center, which provides students in need with food for the weekend, $2,000
Good Neighbors Inc., to purchase toothpaste and toothbrushes for children in need, $1,000
GriefCare Place Inc., for the Growing Through Grief Kids’ Camp, which helps children and teens cope with the loss of a loved one through art, music and therapeutic peer activities, $2,000
Here’s Hope Horse Farm, for the 2014 summer therapeutic riding program for children with special needs, $2,000
Mental Health America of Summit County Inc., to provide martial arts classes for children with severe behavioral disorders while their parents attend support group meetings, $1,000
Mobile Meals Inc., to provide medically prescribed supplements to children in need, $2,000
Opportunity Parish Ecumenical Neighborhood Ministry, for an early childhood education program that prepares children from low-income families for kindergarten and assesses them for developmental delays, $2,000
Pajama Program, Eastern Ohio Chapter, to purchase books and cold-weather pajamas for children in need, $1,000
Rape Crisis Center, for the Tina Project, which helps prevent teen dating violence by educating middle and high school students about healthy relationships, $2,000
RIGHT – Residents Improving Goodyear Heights Together, for a student learning project at Seiberling Community Learning Center in which students build a greenhouse with recycled plastic bottles and learn to grow their own fruits and vegetables, $2,000
Ritzman Community Learning Center, Akron Public Schools, for the “Are You Longer Than a Third Grader?” project, where students use the measurement skills they’ve learned in the classroom to measure live animals at the Akron Zoo, $875
Shelter Care Inc., for independent living classes and art programs that focus on developing positive coping mechanisms and responsible behavior in neglected youth, $1,840
South Street Ministries, to support math and reading tutoring and health education programming for youth in the Summit Lake neighborhood, $2,000
Stewart’s Caring Place Inc., to purchase materials for the digital art therapy program for teens with cancer, $2,000
Victim Assistance Program, for the “Kids Need a Firm Foundation” picnic for children who have witnessed or been victims of violence, $1,000
Weathervane Community Playhouse Inc., to provide theater class scholarships to children from low-income families, $1,000
About the Millennium Fund for Children
The Millennium Fund for Children is a permanent endowment that was founded in 1999 as a partnership between Akron Community Foundation and the Akron Beacon Journal. It supports arts, civic, education, and health and human services projects for children living in the Beacon Journal’s circulation area. Its mission is to make grants where even a small amount can make a difference. Since its establishment, the Millennium Fund has grown to more than $700,000 and awarded more than $500,000 in grants. In the past year, 275 gifts totaling $37,798 have added to the fund. For more information, or to contribute to the Millennium Fund for Children, visit www.akroncf.org/millennium or call 330-376-8522.
About Akron Community Foundation
Celebrating 58 years of building community philanthropy, Akron Community Foundation embraces and enhances the work of charitable people who make a permanent commitment to the good of the community. In 1955, a $1 million bequest from the estate of Edwin Shaw established the community foundation. Today, it is a philanthropic endowment of nearly $170 million with a growing family of more than 430 funds established by charitable people and organizations from all walks of life. The community foundation welcomes gifts of all kinds, including cash, bequests, stock, real estate, life insurance and retirement assets, just to name a few. To date, the community foundation’s funds have awarded nearly $110 million in grants to qualified nonprofit organizations. For more information about Akron Community Foundation or to learn more about creating your own charitable fund, call 330-376-8522 or visit www.akroncf.org.