The Millennium Fund for Children's latest round of grantmaking brings the fund’s cumulative grantmaking to more than $1 million and represents the largest amount awarded and the highest number of grant recipients in the fund’s 24-year history.

Shaun Schweitzer, chair of the Millennium Fund’s grants committee for the past eight years, explained the

significance of this year’s grantmaking, saying, “The idea of the Millennium Fund for Children has always been that

any amount makes a difference. For us to have grown our endowment to $1.2 million and awarded more than $1 million in just 24 years is a testament to the power of what collective giving can do. Whether you’ve consistently given $25 to the fund each December or you’re a first-time donor, thank you for contributing to make Greater Akron a better place for children.”

As the year draws to a close, there's still time to make a charitable gift to the Millennium Fund for Children and receive a tax deduction for 2023. Download Akron Community Foundation's Year-End Giving Guide for strategic tips to help you maximize your tax savings.

As always, you can make a gift via cash, check or credit card:

When the old Kenmore High School building officially closed its doors last year, the practice room used by the Kenmore Wrestling Club for almost three decades also went away.

But the heart of a wrestler never let the club expire. It just moved from a mile down the road to Innes Community Learning Center.

The mats may be two decades old, but the drive to mold 5 to 12-year-olds and make them better men and women is alive and well.

"It's important to us because we keep the kids off the street," head coach Cory Kallai said. "We teach the kids how to act. A lot of these kids might not have a positive male influence in their life, so that's what we bring to the table. The success we've been able to have with wrestling just kind of correlates with being that positive influence in their lives."

Akron Community Foundation's Millennium Fund for Children recently awarded 36 grants totaling $61,000 to children's programs throughout the Greater Akron area.

Several organizations received grants this year to support mentorship and after-school programs, including Girls on the Run Northeast Ohio, pictured here. Other grant recipients include the Kenmore Wrestling Club, Cuyahoga Falls Library, the Diversity Center of Northeast Ohio and more.

The Children's Department of the Cuyahoga Falls Library is expanding its ability to serve English learners from immigrant and refugee families and kids with sensory needs.

The Cuyahoga Falls Library is one of 36 organizations receiving a total of $61,000 in grants this year through the Millennium Fund for Children, a partnership of the Akron Beacon Journal and the Akron Community Foundation. Since the Millennium Fund launched in 1999, it has distributed more than $1 million in grants to local groups that benefit children in the region.

The library will use the $1,250 grant money to purchase materials such as magnetic letter boards, interactive puzzles, low-vision books, coding robots, weighted stuffed animals and story time kits designed for English language learners.