COLUMBUS, OH (March 31, 2017)—The J. Floyd Dixon Memorial Fund is currently accepting applications for its 2017 grant program. The application deadline is Monday, May 1, 2017. Applications must be accessed online through columbusfoundation.org and emailed to submit@columbusfoundation.org.
Each year, the fund awards grants to nonprofit organizations located in Jackson County that focus primarily on education or health issues. In 2016, the fund’s advisors recommended ten grants totaling $41,500. A grant seldom exceeds $10,000.
Last year’s recipients included: Jackson City Library; Jackson City Schools; Jackson County Board on Aging, Inc.; Jackson County Health Department; Jackson County Homelessness Committee; Jackson Historical Society; Jackson-Vinton Community Action, Inc.; Oak Hill Union Local School District; Stargazey's Equine Therapy; and Jackson Area YMCA.
About the J. Floyd Dixon Memorial Fund
The fund is named for Professor Floyd Dixon, who was raised on a farm in Jackson County near Oak Hill. In 1903, at the age of 17, he began a teaching career in the Wellston and Oak Hill schools. Mr. Dixon's service to the area schools continued in 1920 with his appointment as superintendent of schools for Jackson County. During his tenure from 1920—1924, Mr. Dixon worked to pass a tax levy vital to the long-term success of Jackson schools, and was instrumental in creating two new high schools, Bloomfield Township and Scioto Township. He later became a professor of education at Ohio University in Athens.
Elizabeth Watson, Mr. Dixon's daughter, created the J. Floyd Dixon Memorial Fund in 1997 to honor her father's service to education. Mrs. Watson passed away in 2003. The fund, a component of Community Foundations, Inc., is now administered by a committee consisting of two members of the Watson family and six members of the local community.
About Community Foundations, Inc.
Community Foundations, Inc., was established in 1987 to enable donors to support nonprofit organizations primarily in the state of Ohio and beyond the central Ohio region. For more information, visit columbusfoundation.org or call 614/251-4000.