On November 1st, our regional Board of Directors approved $40,000 in grants to organizations across our region.  Annually, our local steering committees and board members recommend grants in their counties to tackle unmet needs, provide seed funding for programs to start or expand, or help invest in innovative solutions to respond to community needs. 

Our affiliates in Garfield County directed the following funding in their communities.  The Rifle Community Foundation (RCF) recommended $3,000 for Reach-Out Colorado, whose mission is to connect those in need with solutions through programs like Totes of Hope, delivering weekly food bags to 250 elementary school students, and Angel Tree Christmas gifts to children in need.  The RCF board also approved $2,000 for the Rifle Branch Library to support summer and Friday enrichment programs.

The Two Rivers Community Foundation (2RCF) board approved $5,000 for local programs, including a grant to the newly established Project PACK (Provide a Crisis Kit) that supplies backpacks with emergency supplies to kids in crisis. Other grants directed by 2RCF include  Aspen Hope Center,  Junior Achievement,  Mountain Madrigals,  Raising a Reader,  River Bridge Regional Center,  River Center and  Windwalkers Equine Center 

In Delta County, a total of $9,000 included funding for the newly established Kidz Clinic based at Delta County Elementary School and A Little Help North Fork which pairs volunteer community members with seniors that need help staying in their homes.  Other Delta County grants include  CASA of the 7th District - Delta County programs,  Delta County Library District, and   Girl Scouts - Delta County programs.

Grants in Cedaredge are supporting the Grand Mesa Nordic Council and Surface Creek Community Services.

In addition to A Little Help North Fork,  Mountain Harvest Creative is receiving a grant to support agricultural education in honor of Bill Ela.  

Our community grants also funded $2,000 to Lift-Up for programs in Parachute and Battlement Mesa. This funding helped increase the amount that our Mt. Callahan Fund had to distribute and was in recognition of our first and oldest geographic fund.  

The Grand Junction Senior Theater received funding for their 2017 production of Gilbert and Sullivan's "HMS Pinafore".

Every year our board of directors distributes a small pot of discretionary funds to current unmet needs across the counties we serve. Having learned that the City of Grand Junction Arts and Culture Commission was not in a position to provide its regular $50,000 in small grants to support grassroots arts and culture organizations, WCCF decided to designate its funds for this purpose.

Grant requests totaling over $26,000 from various arts and culture organizations were received and reviewed by our Community Grants Committee.  Talking Rhythms, a program of the Grand Junction Symphony, received $1,000 to expand their programming to rural schools in the region and to agencies that serve at-risk youth.  The Western Colorado Center for the Arts received a grant to support their Artability program which serves more than 200 students with physical and mental challenges, and $1,500 to support their Visiting Artist Lecture series.  Other Arts and Culture grants include: Super Rad Art Jam, Grand Junction Senior Theater, High Desert Opera, Messiah Choral Society of Grand Junction, KAFM Community Radio and the Grand Junction Symphony Orchestra.  

Arts and Culture grants support the Artability program at the Western Colorado Center for the arts, providing art activities to over 200 students with mental and physical challenges.

WCCF manages a limited number of donor-directed funds that support the arts so we are very pleased to be able to use discretionary funds for this purpose this year.  Across our region, other arts and culture organizations like Mountain Madigral Singers in Glenwood Springs and the Ouray County Arts Association and Performing Arts Guild were supported with Community Grants this year.

Reflections from the

Grants and Community Outreach Director

As Director of Grants and Community Outreach, I have the responsibility and honor to work with our donor advisers to facilitate their grant making, and to help our affiliates, partners and community grant committees to promote, review and award our community grants.  Selecting community grant recipients can be a challenging process, as the need is always greater than the funding we have available.  It is also extremely rewarding to be part of the process where our funding can help seed new programs, tackle unmet needs, assist organizations to leverage additional grants and resources, and to help fill gaps in funding.  We know our community grants help to do all of this and more.  As someone who has worked in nonprofits all of my professional career, I know the need of our nonprofits is great and that they do a tremendous job in serving our communities.  As the Director of Grants for our Foundation, I know the impact our funding makes across our seven counties, the lives that we are helping to improve and the investment by our generous donors truly does make a difference in our communities.  

- Tedi Gillespie