The Williamsport-Lycoming Community Foundation "passed the baton" to 21 area nonprofits with its spring round of grants announced Wednesday.
"We trust you. We know you have good programs," Suzanne Lee, president and CEO of the First Community Foundation of Pennsylvania, said.
About $500,000 was awarded to organizations through the foundation's competitive grants program, funded by endowments left to the foundation by community members.
"People come to the community roundation and say 'This community has been great to me ... I need to take care of my community,'" Lee said. "The grants you are recieving today are from people whose legacy the community foundation implements and makes sure goes into the right hands."
The largest grant awarded during the ceremony went to the YWCA of Williamsport. The $100,000 grant will contribute to the organization's capital campaign, which is working to make cost-efficient improvements to the group's 80-year-old building at 815 W. Fourth St.
The Community Alliance for Progressive Positive Action (CAPPA) and the Center for Independent Living each received $75,000 for the continuation and expansion of their respective programs.
According to Lee, the foundation received 48 grant applications. A group of 29 people on seven panels reviewed the applications based on the type of funding requested. More of the requests were "fully funded," Lee said, in an effort to make sure programs were able to operate to the best of their ability,
"We're paying attention to what your needs are," Lee said. "We want to make you whole."
Lee called the grant awardees "innovative" and praised the work done by the nonprofits.
Lee said deciding which organizations to award grant money to is a hard decision.
"It's always hard to make grants because you have to look at the community's needs, the capacity of the organization, and there's never enough money for everything," she said.
Other grants included: $2,500 to Sycamore Manor Health Center; $2,500 to the Williamsport-Lycoming Young professionals; $4,000 to the Juneteenth Celebration Committee; $5,500 to the Community Theatre League; $5,612 to the Uptown Music Collective; $5,978 to Shepherd of the Streets; $5,999 to the Jersey Shore Summer Recreation Program; $5,999 to the Lycoming-Sullivan Standards Coalition; $10,000 to the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank; $12,000 to the East Lycoming Historical Society; $13,000 to the East Lycoming YMCA; $20,000 to the Community Arts Center; $20,000 to the Lewis Township Planning Commission; $20,000 to the Loyalsock Township Recreation Board; $21,750 to the Jersey Shore YMCA; $25,000 to Valley View Nursing Center; $33,420 to the Campbell Street Center; and $36,742 to the Northcentral Pennsylvania Conservancy.
Lee said she hoped people could see the "breadth and depth" of the programs the foundation funded.
