In November, The Community Foundation of the New River Valley (CFNRV) awarded $138, 134 in grants to 45 projects throughout the region through its Responsive Grant Program.
The CFNRV manages over $10 million in assets in 185 endowed funds created by NRV individuals, families, and businesses to award grants to charitable organizations and scholarships to students. The Responsive Grant Program awards up to $3,000 in operating support to charitable organizations and up to $5,000 to specific programs focused on issues like poverty, natural resource conservation, education, the arts, and housing. The CFNRV received nearly one hundred applications, and staff and volunteers then vetted the applications and made grant awards from dozens of endowed funds managed at the foundation.
Grant recipients and donors gathered in Floyd to celebrate the awards. During the celebration, executive director Jessica Wirgau shared the foundation’s gratitude for the work each grantee organization does for the community, “You solidify for me the central message we share with all of our donors, that each grant we give and each gift they make is an investment in our community. This audience knows that grants are not handouts, nor simply nice gestures. They are investments in the good work your organizations do, in each of you as professionals, and
most importantly, in improving the quality of life for all NRV residents now and for generations.”
A complete list of grant recipients is available here. The 2019 Responsive Grant Program will open online in May 2019 with a deadline in late July. Anyone interested in starting an endowed fund to support charitable work in the New River Valley should contact the CFNRV at 540-381-8999 or email jessicawirgau@cfnrv.org.