2024 Field of Interest Grant Awards
Field of Interest Funds are sort of like matchmaking. At Marion Community Foundation, Field of Interest funds are for the donor who wish to support a specific cause or area of interest that is near to their heart. The Foundation’s Grants Committee researches and provides guidance on how awards should support the community and matches those funds with local nonprofits and charities that are doing good work in that specific area. In 2024, the Foundation is awarding $63,000 in Field of Interest grants to 17 local organizations.
The 2024 Field of Interest grants were approved at Marion Community Foundation’s April Board of Directors meeting and are as follows:
Kathleen E. O’Shea Fund | $5,000 to area high schools and middle schools and $7,189 to the Marion Palace Theatre — The O’Shea Fund supports live theatre and dance–which Kathy dearly loved–in Marion County (Ohio). In 2023, the award is supporting the musical productions of local schools, including Elgin, Harding, Pleasant, Ridgedale, and River Valley high schools and Grant Middle School. It will also support three local productions at the Palace in the coming season.
Learn more: Kathleen E. O’Shea Fund
Child Care Choices Fund | $1,345 to Marion First Church of the Nazarene — The Child Care Choices Fund supports qualified childcare providers, specifically to improve programming and staff development. Grants are awarded for the purchase of curricula materials, playground equipment, fall zone materials, and classroom materials which focus on literacy, math, and science, and professional development related to the age of children served by staff members.
Learn more: Child Care Choices Fund
Helen Cunningham Handicapped Fund | $5,000 to Center Street Community Health Center and $2,509 to Marion County Board of Developmental Disabilities — The Cunningham Fund, created by Society for the Handicapped of Marion County to honor longtime advocate Helen Cunningham, supports Helen’s life-long mission of helping others who need it most by awarding grants to programs and organizations which assist persons with disabilities. This award will provide financial support for individual requests for health services at the Center Street Community Health Center and promote the general welfare and recreation of persons with disabilities served by MCBDD.
Learn more: Helen Cunningham Handicapped Fund
Patricia Anne Chapman Animal Welfare Fund | $616 to Homeless to Home Animal Rescue & Cat Sanctuary and $616 to Marion Area Humane Society — The Chapman Fund supports animal welfare in Marion County (Ohio). These awards will assist Homeless-to-Home and the Marion Area Humane Society to spay and neuter stray cats and general care of animals in their shelter.
Learn more: Patricia Anne Chapman Animal Welfare Fund
Frank & Kathy Conley Family Fund | $216 to Marion Area Humane Society – The Conley Fund supports animal welfare in Marion County, Ohio, including programs and organizations supporting the care and conservation of wildlife.
Learn more: Frank & Kathy Conley Family Fund
Marion Speech and Hearing Fund | $14,307 to Marion County Board of Developmental Disabilities – This fund supports habilitative and rehabilitative services for individuals with speech, language, and hearing impairments, including hearing evaluation, testing, diagnosis, therapy, counseling, and referral to additional appropriate therapy/treatment services in Marion County, Ohio. This year’s grants will assist MCBDD and their clients who need speech and hearing services; $900 to River Valley Heritage Elementary School – to provide audiobook listening devices and make grade-level books accessible for struggling readers. This grant is part of the TEACH Grants Program.
Learn more: Marion Speech and Hearing Fund
Marion County Youth Foundation Fund | $1,000 to Heart of Ohio Junior Golf Association (HOJGA) and $3,129 to the Greg Swepston Gymnasium in the Alber Student Center at The Ohio State University at Marion – This fund supports programs and organizations that promote Marion County youth in their pursuit of academic, edcuational, vocational, and extracurricular goals and activities.
Learn more: Marion County Youth Foundation Fund
Dave & Anne Brown Family Fund | $550 to Marion Family YMCA — The Brown Fund is a donor advised fund that supports a number of causes; awards favor organizations and programs which address neurological diseases and disorders, agricultural programs for youth, and end of life care. The 2024 award supports the local YMCA’s Parkinson’s Disease program.
Learn more: Dave & Anne Brown Family Fund
James & Margaret Coulson Charitable Fund | $595 to Marion Family YMCA — The Coulson Fund is a donor advised fund used by the family to support a variety of causes important to James and Margaret. This year’s award supports the Marion Family YMCA’s Parkinson’s Disease program.
Learn more: James & Margaret Coulson Charitable Fund
Smith-Brown Family Fund | $2,160 to Marion Family YMCA — The Smith and Brown families use this donor advised fund to support their favorite causes, especially organizations and programs which address neurological diseases and disorders. This year, the grant will help support the Parkinson’s Disease program at the Marion Family YMCA.
Learn more: Smith-Brown Family Fund
Francis & Thelma Wise Fund | $4,372 to Marion Family YMCA and $2,186 to Prevent Blindness Ohio Affiliate — The Wise Fund supports programs to improve the lives of those with arthritis, Parkinson’s Disease, and vision impairment or blindness. These awards support the local YMCA’s arthritis and Parkinson’s Disease exercise programs to address these health issues and the services of Prevent Blindness Ohio.
Learn more: Francis & Thelma Wise Fund
Janis & Greg Swepston Family Fund | $486 to Marion Public Library — The Swepston Fund is a memorial fund supporting literature and elementary education, live theater, the performing arts, and animal welfare. This year’s award supports the Marion Public Library, where Janis worked for 30+ years.
Learn more: Janis & Greg Swepston Family Fund
Vera O. McDanel Senior Citizens Transportation Fund | $549 to Marion Senior Center — The McDanel Fund provides support and fund for programs that provide for the transportation needs of senior citizens residing in Marion County, Ohio, including medical and dental appointments, business appointments, shopping, and social visits, as well as wheelchair assistance. This award supports the Marion Senior Center.
Learn more: Vera O. McDanel Senior Citizens Transportation Fund
Marion Noon Lions Club Fund | $2,410 to Prevent Blindness Ohio Affiliate — The Lions Club service organization has a long history of supporting sight conservation, including helping the sight-impaired in Marion County, and funding local, regional, and national treatment, training, and research of sight conservation. This grant will support the work of Prevent Blindness Ohio Affiliate.
Learn more: Marion Noon Lions Club Fund
Thurman & Rose Mathews Fund | $4,334 to Ridgedale Local Schools – The Mathews Fund supports programs and organizations that benefit the youth of Marion County, with special consideration for programs and organizations that benefit youth in need in the western part of Marion. This year’s recipient is Ridgedale for the school’s drivers’ education program, One Book, One School, One District, 2-hour delay enrichments, and Career Cafes.
Learn more: Thurman & Rose Mathews Fund
Jane Ann Caton Dean Fund | $3,064 to Special Olympics and $3,100 to Tri-Rivers Career Center – The Dean Fund assists people with learning, intellectual, physical, and developmental disabilities and special needs; with preference for people aged 13 to 21 years. The 2024 award supports Marion County Special Olympics participants to attend the summer state games; and, Tri-Rivers’ Project Search, a job skills program in partnership with OhioHealth Marion General Hospital.
Learn more: Jane Ann Caton Dean Fund
Virgil Jerome Nature Education Fund | $683 to River Valley Heritage Elementary School — This memorial fund honors Virgil Jerome and his love of the outdoors. Its awards are intended to engage people, primarily youth, with nature and the outdoors and focuses on education, training, learning, outdoor activities and events which build awareness and appreciation for the environment. This award will support River Valley Heritage’s Pollinator Garden to teach students the importance of caring for our native plants and the vital role they play in our food chain. This grant is part of the TEACH Grants Program.
Learn more: Virgil Jerome Nature Education Fund
Jerry Grubaugh Memorial Fund | This memorial fund honors the late Jerry B. Grubaugh, a corporate attorney who moved to the Dominican Republic in 1986 to practice with the law firm Oficina Marranzini. The Grubaugh Fund supports health care programs in the Dominican Republic whose principal purpose is the treatment and care of persons suffering from Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome in that Caribbean country.
Learn more: Jerry Grubaugh Memorial Fund
In addition to field of interest funds, Marion Community Foundation offers donor advised, designated, unrestricted, scholarship, and agency endowments and opportunities to meet the needs and goals of donors in the Marion area. The Foundation’s offices are located at 504 S. State St. in Marion and office hours are weekdays 9a-5p. Staff may be reached by calling 740-387-9704.
Click HERE to view the 2023 Field of Interest Grants.
If any of these causes appeal to you, click on the links below each award description to learn more and donate to these Field of Interest Funds.
