Greene County Foundation grants allow investment in community

The 2017 Greene County Community Support Grant is allowing groups to continue investing in the county through various rewards.

The Greene County General Hospital Foundation was awarded $7,500 in support of its endowment building project. The grant was primarily supported by the Bill and Linda Haseman Fund (Haseman II) and the Helen Hunter Community Support Fund.

According to Kyle Cross of GCGHF, the grant funding will allow the organization to invest in long-term support of its Sweet Dreams Baby Bundles Program.

“Baby Bundles is an education based program where we try to educate mothers on safe sleep practices, the benefits of breast feeding and infant CPR,” Cross said. “Everything is meant to help get the infant past its first birthday.”

Cross added the program is incentive based, offering free resources and supplies to those taking part such as essentials for a baby in the first months after birth.

The program was established at the state level in order to help combat the infant mortality rate, which Cross stated has seen a decrease since its inception in 2014.

“The program is free to mothers and we encourage them to bring someone with them, whether that’s the father or family members,” Cross said.

The grant funding received will help with overall sustainability for the program, with the hope of eventually receiving private contributors.

“After a couple of years into the grant cycle, we will get a bonus of about $100,000, which will go into the endowment fund. We really hope to grow this program, and we’re excited to be working with the Greene County Foundation,” Cross said.

The Linton Civitan received $6,000 in support of its Civitan Building renovation. The grant was primarily supported by the BloomBank Community Support Fund, the Rick and Melonie Graves Legacy Fund, the JoEllen Kramer Legacy Fund, the Kramer Fund, the Hilderbrand Family Fund, the Sherman Anderson Memorial Fund and the Frank Miller Memorial Fund.

Civitan member Bruce Moore said the renovations to the old Conservation Club have been extensive and in the works for the past year.

“At one point, the building was used all the time. However, over the last 25 years, money wasn’t put into it and it faded pretty fast,” Moore said.

The building was originally constructed in the 1930s and described as becoming an eyesore.

“We approached several people about using the building for storage. Once we started cleaning it out, we realized the building had a lot of potential,” Moore said. “We wanted to make it usable for the community.”

Moore stated help from the Wabash Valley Correctional Facility has been a Godsend, with nearly 1,000 hours being put in to secure the building, putting on new steel doors, rewiring the building, updating lights, stripping the interior, putting in a new fireplace and working on bathrooms and plumbing.

“A lot of people have donated and pitched in and donated, but we had reached the point of tapping out,” Moore said. “The grant was a really big boost, and with it we should be able to finish the bathrooms and plumbing.”

Moore added upon completion, the building will be used for community functions and he hopes the building will become a centerpiece for the community.

“We’ve had a lot of help and a lot of good times fixing the building up,” Moore said.

The Civitan is anticipating an official opening in November.

“It’s been a county wide effort and the whole county can benefit from it,” Moore said.

The Old Clifty Memorial Association was awarded $7,000 in support of the Old Clifty Preservation project. The grant was primarily supported by the REMC Community Support Fund, the Thomas and Cynthia Roberts Legacy Fund, the Trampke Family Fund, the Walter W. and Mary K. Burcham Fund, the Smithville Discretionary Fund and the Randall and Edna Inman Family Fund.

Tom Jochim of the Old Clifty Memorial Association said the Old Clifty Church has a lot of history behind it and the organization wishes to preserve its legacy.

“The church was started before the Civil War and the men working on it went off to fight. When they came back, they finished it,” Jochim said. “It’s been somewhat neglected, but each generation has put in work on it.”

The grant funding will go to replacing the roof, windows, ceiling and maintaining the grounds.

The Old Clifty Church is largely known for its annual “Old Clifty Day,” which encourages the community to attend and connect with each other.

“Old Clifty Day has been going on for almost 100 years,” Jochim said. “We really want to make this a nice place to visit.”

The Greene County Foundation exists to be a vehicle for charitably minded individuals to leave a lasting legacy to the community. Through the establishment of endowments, donors can support financially the causes important to them. The Greene County Foundation holds over eight million in assets and has had a charitable impact in every school, library and community in Greene County. The Greene County Foundation annually awards over $300,000 in grants through fund payouts, competitive grants and student scholarships. Begun in 1997, the Greene County Foundation is one of 92 Community Foundations, one in each county in Indiana. The Foundations are private charitable organizations created to serve the public good. They receive their funding through contributions from generous donors.

For more information, visit greenecountyfoundation.org or call 812-659-3142.

Editor’s note: This is the final part of a four-part series regarding the Greene County Foundation Community Support Grant.