Press Release: August 22, 2008

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: 614/251-4000, Carol Harmon x 113

THE COLUMBUS FOUNDATION AWARDS NEARLY $200,000
THROUGH ITS NEW GIVING STRENGTH PROGRAM


COLUMBUS, Ohio (August 22, 2008)—The Columbus Foundation is awarding $198,557 to improve the lives of central Ohio citizens through its new competitive grantmaking program, Giving Strength. The Governing Committee of The Columbus Foundation approved the new program’s Small Grants in seven key impact areas at its summer meeting.

Through its competitive grantmaking and the Giving Strength program, The Columbus Foundation supports projects that impact the quality of life in central Ohio. These grants are made possible by donors who create unrestricted and field of interest funds to address the community’s most pressing needs.

2008 Small Grants by Impact Area

Animals

  • Capital Area Humane Society—$10,000 to hire a full-time animal behavior coordinator who will focus on animal behavior from the perspective of the SAFER (Safety Assessment For Evaluating Rehoming) program.

Arts – Chamber Music

  • CityMusic, Inc.—$8,500 to support the presentation of a 25th anniversary chamber music concert at the Southern Theatre.
  • Delaware Chamber Music Festival, Inc. dba Chamber Music Connection, Inc.—$12,000 to support its Conservatory Series and education programs.

  • Jefferson Academy of Music—$15,000 to redesign all marketing materials used in conjunction with the Chamber Music-Sunday Afternoons series.
  • ProMusica Chamber Orchestra of Columbus, Inc.—$20,000 to support the Josephinum Series of chamber music performances.


Education

  • Educational Service Center of Franklin County—$25,000 to support Project KEY, which engages truant youth through mediation, advocacy, rewards, and follow-up.
  • National Audubon Society/Ohio—$15,000 to expand the five-week urban conservation program.

Health Education

  • Central Ohio Diabetes Association, Inc.—$10,000 to support diabetes prevention and education at the Near Eastside Healthy Lifestyle Center.

Social Services – Parent Education

  • Ohio Capital Corporation for Housing—$25,000 to support operating expenses for Circles Initiative.

Special Population – Elderly

  • ADENA Adult Day Enrichment of New Albany—$6,500 to purchase supplies for the activity room.
  • Rebuilding Together Central Ohio—$10,000 to support the “Setting our Sights on Children” vision rehabilitation and vision aids program for underserved youth.

Special Population – Blind or Visually Impaired

  • Vision & Vocational Services—$25,000 to support the “Setting our Sights on Children” vision rehabilitation and vision aids program for underserved youth.

Traditional Grants

  • Rosemont Center, Inc.—$15,000 to support the Kids ‘n’ Canines program, a therapeutic intervention to benefit troubled youth and homeless dogs.


Additional grants made possible through the Joseph A. Jeffrey Endowment Fund of The Columbus Foundation

  • City of Bexley—$16,240 to fund the replacement of 80 nonfunctioning accent lighting fixtures in Drexel Circle.
  • Columbus Downtown Development Corporation—$44,000 for support of the Scioto Mile Project comprised of integrated parks, boulevards, and paths for pedestrian and bicycles, creating a green corridor from the Arena District to the Whittier Peninsula.
  • Recreation Unlimited Foundation—$8,500 to support a new outdoor accessible gardening program.
  • Red, White, BOOM!—$20,000 to support the downtown celebration of our nation’s independence.
  • The Columbus Foundation—$20,000 to support the Broad Street landscaping as part of The Columbus Foundation 2008 campus expansion.

About Giving Strength to Central Ohio
The Columbus Foundation’s new grantmaking program seeks to impact a broad spectrum of community needs to improve the quality of life for central Ohioians. The program focuses on vulnerable and underserved populations; increasing the quality of effectiveness, and viability of nonprofit organizations and leaders; developing and testing new, creative community solutions; and promoting problem-solving that supports partnerships and collaboration. For more information on the Foundation’s Giving Strength to Central Ohio’s Small Grants Program, please visit GO! GrantsOpportunites at www.columbusfoundation.org or contact Lisa Courtice at 614/251-4000, or lcourtice@columbusfoundation.org.

About The Columbus Foundation

The Columbus Foundation is the trusted philanthropic advisor to nearly 1,700 individuals, families, and businesses, who have created unique funds to make a difference in the lives of others through the most effective philanthropy possible. Serving the region for 65 years, The Columbus Foundation is one of the ten largest community foundations in the United States today, with assets of over $1 billion. The Foundation's new online resource, PowerPhilanthropy®, makes it possible for donors and the public to access valuable information about central Ohio nonprofits.

For more information visit www.columbusfoundation.org or call 614/251-4000.