The Pittsburgh-based Benedum Foundation last year gave out 116grants in West Virginia totaling $11.67 million, or an average of$100,000 per grant.
The grants were used to promote and improve economic development,education, health and human services, and community development.
'We're pleased to make these investments in organizations that wefeel can improve the quality of life for many West Virginians,' saidBeverly Walter, vice president for programs. 'A lot of these arestatewide projects and really do reach a lot of people.'
The foundation gives roughly two-thirds of its grant moneyannually to West Virginia, where the late oil wildcatter MichaelBenedum was born and got his start buying oil leases from rurallandowners. The other third goes to Benedum's adoptive city ofPittsburgh and to three counties of southwestern Pennsylvania thatborder West Virginia.
Since its inception in 1944, the foundation has given $191 millionin philanthropic grants to West Virginia organizations.
Michael Benedum and his wife, Sarah, began the foundation as amemorial to their only child, Claude Worthington Benedum, who died inthe influenza epidemic of 1918 while serving in the U.S. Army.
At year's end, the foundation had assets of $378 million, up from$364 million last year. The foundation gave out a total of $16.7million in 2005, including roughly $5 million in Pennsylvania.
Here is a complete list of Benedum grants awarded during 2005 toWest Virginia groups:
The Alliance for Children Inc., Charleston, $200,000, continuedsupport to improve services for children requiring out-of-homeplacement; $25,000, truancy diversion social work services at middleand high schools in McDowell County;
Barbour County Community Development Corp., Philippi, $35,000,Alliance of Champion Communities Capacity Building Project;
Camcare Health Education and Research Institute Inc., Charleston,$5,000, needs assessment and business plan to create a GeriatricCenter of Excellence for Kanawha Valley and surrounding areas;
Center for Aging and Healthcare in West Virginia Inc.,Parkersburg, $100,000, spread over four years to support NeighborhoodM.A.P. (More Active People) in Wood County;
Center for Effective Philanthropy Inc., Cambridge, Mass., $25,000,survey of grantees regarding foundation practices and effectiveness;
The Center for Rural Health Development Inc., Dunbar, $200,000,matching grant for the West Virginia Rural Health Access Program thatincludes recruitment and retention of providers, managementassistance program, leadership development, and an infrastructureloan fund;
Change Inc., Weirton, $60,000, to assist Free Clinic in becoming afederally qualified health center serving Brooke and Hancockcounties;
University of Charleston, $75,000, to support Innovation WestVirginia project to encourage and support growth of entrepreneurshipin the state;
College Summit Inc., Washington, D.C., $100,000, spread over twoyears to expand program to promote college enrollment and retention;
Community Collaborative Inc., Charleston, $65,500, for continuedsupport for the Sustainable West Virginia Communities LeadershipDevelopment Program in 2005-2006;
West Virginia Leadership Network, $30,000, for coordination,communications, and evaluation development;
Community Foundation for the Ohio Valley Inc., Wheeling, $200,000,for flood assistance for the Upper Ohio Valley; $50,000, for staffingsupport to grow endowment;
Community Visions Foundation Inc., Morgantown, $325,000, spreadover two years for visioning services and coordination of a regionalcommunity development strategy;
CommunityWorks in West Virginia Inc., Charleston, $45,000,continued operating and program support in 2005 for low-incomehousing initiative;
Concord University Foundation Inc., Athens, $25,000, continuedsupport for Partnerships for Teacher Quality Initiative to develop aprofessional development school model of teacher preparation atpublic institutions in the state;
The Corridor G Regional Community Foundation Inc., Logan, $35,000,matching funds to support efforts of Alliance of Champion Communitiesto assess current broadband use and availability, and to work withresidents and businesses of seven rural distressed communities toincrease use and availability of high-speed broadbandtelecommunication;
Discover the REAL West Virginia Foundation Inc., Charleston,$25,000, operating support;
Eastern West Virginia Community Foundation, Martinsburg, $120,000,over three years for staffing support for two new affiliates in Hardyand Hampshire counties;
The Education Alliance - Business and Community For Public SchoolsInc., Charleston, $477,573, over three years for education researchand expansion of business/school partnerships for academicimprovement;
EdVenture Group Inc., Morgantown, $155,000, over two years forintegration of 21st Century Skills training in West Virginia's K-12science curricula; $70,000, for creation of a summer institute tointroduce educators and students to the field of biometrics;
Fairmont State University Foundation Inc. (formerly Fairmont StateFoundation Inc.), $5,000, for continued support for Partnerships forTeacher Quality Initiative to develop a professional developmentschool model of teacher preparation at public institutions in thestate;
Federation of Appalachian Housing Enterprises Inc., Berea, Ky.,$50,000, for continued operating support for low-income housinginitiatives in 2005; $100,000, for continued operating support forlow-income housing initiatives in 2006;
First Commitment Foundation Inc., Wheeling, $45,000, for continuedexpansion of board training for West Virginia nonprofit board membersand support to build a framework to maintain delivery of training andsupport services;
The Francis Foundation for the Arts, doing business as TheAppalachian Education Initiative Foundation, Morgantown, $84,800, forpilot of a model of arts-integrated learning into elementarycurricula and professional development of generalist teachers;
Gilmer County Family Resource Network Inc., Glenville, $31,200,for four-county collaboration to develop a system to create andsustain a community development structure that brings together localleaders to identify and solve community and economic developmentproblems and share best practices on a regional basis;
Glenville State College, Glenville, $22,000, for continued supportfor Partnerships for Teacher Quality Initiative to develop aprofessional development school model of teacher preparation atpublic institutions in the state;
Great Kanawha Resource Conservation and Development Area Inc.,Cross Lanes, $50,000, organizational development and use of theCommunity Visions process to support the Kanawha, Putnam GatewayProject involving development and promotion of Point Pleasant/St.Albans region;
Greater Kanawha Valley Foundation, Charleston, $10,000, continuedsupport of a funding pool for proposed sustainable developmentprojects in Kanawha and Putnam counties;
Harrison County Child Abuse Task Force Inc., Clarksburg, $50,000,for establishment of a Child Advocacy Center serving Harrison County;
Hopeful Housing Inc., Wheeling, $30,000, over two years foroperating support for low-income housing initiatives;
The Hopewell Fund Inc., Wheeling, $250,000, to expand operationsto build capital fund, regional presence, and impact;
Hospice of Huntington Inc., $65,000, to develop palliative careand hospice care curriculum for medical, nursing, and social workstudents;
Huntington Area Habitat for Humanity, $50,000, for start-up coststo establish a ReStore to serve Cabell and Wayne counties;
I-79 Development Council Inc., Fairmont, $100,000, to update theNorth Central West Virginia Biometrics Cluster study to initiate anaction plan to develop the biometrics industry and provide staff toimplement the plan;
Institute for Scientific Research Inc., Fairmont, $30,000, todevelopment of a bioinformatics curriculum for employers in WestVirginia and Southwestern Pennsylvania;
Jefferson County Development Authority, Charles Town, $78,000, fororganizational development of Gateway New Economy Council to promotetechnology business development in the Eastern Panhandle region;
Kings Daughters Child Care Center Inc., Wheeling, $30,000, onbehalf of the Harmony House Children's Advocacy Center, expansion ofthe service area to include Marshall County;
KYOWVA Planned Giving Council, Huntington, $30,000, to supportLeave A Legacy West Virginia, an outreach program to increase plannedgifts to West Virginia's nonprofit organizations;
Literacy West Virginia Inc., Dunbar, $150,000, to provide minigrants and technical assistance to local literacy organizationsacross the state;
Marion County Foundation Inc., Fairmont, $100,000, over two yearsto establish the Community Foundation of North Central West Virginiaserving Harrison and Marion counties and possible further expansioninto the region.
Marshall University Foundation Inc., Huntington, $20,500, incontinued support for Partnerships for Teacher Quality Initiative todevelop a professional development school model of teacherpreparation at public institutions in the state; $171,000, toimplement a program to improve the quality of obesity, asthma, well-child exams and risky behavior assessments in 50 school-based healthcenters in West Virginia;
Marshall University Research Corp., Huntington, $350,000, over twoyears for Rahall Transportation Institute to develop newtransportation industry businesses in West Virginia through abusiness incubator;
Mission West Virginia Inc., St. Albans, $52,100, matching fundsfor the STEP UP program to provide free community technology centersincluding computer skills training, job readiness training and softskills tutoring in rural distressed counties in West Virginia;$125,000, matching funds to support the Wellspring Center to buildorganizational capacity of faith-based and community-basedorganizations;
City of Morgantown, $225,000, over three years on behalf ofCommunity Visions Foundation, to support the newly created Federationof NonProfits;
Mountain Cap of West Virginia Inc., Buckhannon, $15,700, topurchase construction materials and for travel expenses for GroupWork Camp to be held in Upshur County between October 2005 and August2006;
Mountain Partners in Community Development Inc., Elkins, $25,100,for development of a Management Support Organization to serve thenonprofit community in Randolph County for the purposes ofstrengthening collective and individual operational capacity,leveraging resources, and better serving citizens and the community;
Mountaineer Food Bank Inc., Gassaway, $100,000, for transportationcosts and upgrades to technology;
Natural Capital Investment Fund Inc., Shepherdstown, $250,000, forexpansion of outreach and community partnership development effortsand to leverage matching funds;
North Central West Virginia Community Action Association Inc.,Fairmont, $8,500, as part of local match needed by Group Work Camp torepair more than 70 homes in Barbour and Taylor counties;
Office of the Governor, Charleston, $219,000, for expansion of acomputer maintenance program to eight West Virginia high schools;
Parkersburg Community Foundation, $37,000, for staff support forthe Mason County and Little Kanawha Area Community FoundationAffiliates;
The Progress Fund, Dawson, Pa., $250,000, for expansion ofprograms to promote tourism in West Virginia;
Region 4 Planning and Development Council, Summersville, $95,000,over two years for initiation of Connected Technologies Corridors, asouthern West Virginia regional organization whose goal is todevelop, recruit, nurture and coordinate technological businesses andresources for an 11-county service area;
Regional Family Resource Network Inc., Charleston, $15,000, fordevelopmental support for the Boone County Child Advocacy Center;
Shepherd University Foundation Inc., Shepherdstown, $6,000, forcontinued support for Partnerships for Teacher Quality Initiative todevelop a professional development school model of teacherpreparation at public institutions in the state;
Southern Appalachian Labor School Foundation Inc., Kincaid,$25,000, matching grant to purchase building materials to repairhouses for low-income residents of Fayette County through Group WorkCamp; $50,000, for administrative support for low-income housinginitiatives in 2006;
Southern West Virginia Community and Technical College, Mount Gay,$50,000, in continued support for APPALREAD family literacy programserving more than 350 children in Logan, Lincoln, Mingo, McDowell,Wyoming, and Boone counties;
Student Conservation Association Inc., Charlestown, N.H.,$125,000, for West Virginia Sustainable Communities Project to deploy10 interns to serve two West Virginia Alliance for ChampionCommunities to organize, educate, and assist local organizations indeveloping effective pollution prevention practices;
Tamarack Foundation Inc., Beckley, $175,000, to enhance careeropportunities for West Virginia artisans;
Team for West Virginia Children Inc., Huntington, $270,000, forpromotion and coordination of statewide efforts to reduce child abuseand neglect as a credentialed chapter of Prevent Child Abuse America;
Telamon Corp., Martinsburg, $64,283, to increase affordablehousing development capacity in Hampshire, Hardy, Mineral, Berkeleyand Jefferson counties;
United Way of Central West Virginia, doing business as LifeBridge,Charleston, $75,000, for support for family literacy programs in 20counties of West Virginia;
United Way of Harrison County, Clarksburg, $75,000, to increaseand sustain leadership giving in seven communities;
Upshur County Child Advocacy Center Inc., Buckhannon, $12,900, forcontinued development of Upshur County Child Advocacy Center;
West Liberty State College Foundation Inc., $35,000, for continuedsupport for Partnerships for Teacher Quality Initiative to develop aprofessional development school model of teacher preparation atpublic institutions in the state;
West Virginia Association of Free Clinics Inc., Charleston,$250,000, for statewide enrollment of diabetic patients served byfree clinics in a diabetes management program;
West Virginia Community Development Partnership Inc., Charleston,$150,000, for implementation of Standards for Excellence Training andCertification for West Virginia nonprofit organizations; $70,000, forthe West Virginia Conference on Entrepreneurship;
West Virginia Community Voices Inc., Charleston, $10,000, toprovide stipends to health professions students and community leadersto attend the 2005 Rural Health Conference; $50,000, for research,identification, and documentation of prenatal wellness and birthoutcomes in West Virginia and development of ways to improve birthoutcomes; $57,000, to increase the quality of child health byidentifying areas of improvement, partnering with nationalorganizations for technical assistance, and working with communityhealth centers, physicians, and others who provide medical care forchildren;
West Virginia Council for Community and Technical CollegeEducation, Charleston, $100,000, to assist students attaining theirGEDs to successfully transition into post-secondary education;
West Virginia Council of Churches, Charleston, $75,000, to providetwo community organizations in Nicholas and Fayette counties withtraining, information, and other technical assistance to supportparents in avoiding use of hospital emergency departments fornonemergency child health care; $65,400, to support the West VirginiaHealthy Kids and Families Coalition's 2005 Children's HealthConference and regional discussions leading to development of a long-term child health agenda;
West Virginia Department of Education, Charleston, $200,000, toimplement a statewide professional development program in mathematicsfor elementary school teachers; the money helped fund seminars forelementary school teachers last summer to extend a National ScienceFoundation-designed standards-based middle school math program namedMerit down to elementary schools.
West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources,Charleston, $250,000, to connect Family Resource Networks across thestate with the necessary equipment and training in order to establishstandards for planning, development, assessment, design, andevaluation of community service coordination; $256,000, to supportthe West Virginia Office of Healthy Lifestyles and communitydevelopment activities designed to reduce obesity in West Virginia;
West Virginia Economic Development Foundation Inc., Charleston,$76,000, for organizational and public outreach associated withimplementation of the Blueprint for Entrepreneurship developed aspart of Vision Shared, the state's economic development plan;$100,000, in matching funds for the ARC-funded Flex-E-Grant programproviding grants to build individual, organizational, and communitycapacity in distressed counties of the state;
West Virginia High Technology Consortium Foundation, Fairmont,$100,000, over two years to support FastTrac, an entrepreneurshipeducational program to help create new businesses or expand existingenterprises;
West Virginia Hospital Research and Education Foundation,Charleston, $75,000, to support Babies to Business: Building Brainsfrom Day One, a project to educate families and caregivers aboutinfant brain development and the role they play in this development;$110,000, to establish the West Virginia Center for Patient Safety,implement Critical Access Hospital Network Performance ImprovementInitiative, and evaluate and develop a demonstration waiver toimplement Project Vision;
West Virginia Kids Count Fund Inc., Charleston, $30,000, forcontinued support of Reach Out and Read and Building Blocks ofLiteracy programs as part of the Partners in Early LearningInitiative; $137,000, for evaluation of existing Early ChildDevelopment System, development of strategies to improve quality andassure accountability, and development of innovative public andprivate funding mechanism;
West Virginia Medical Foundation, Charleston, $180,000, to supportthe Healthy Lifestyles Coalition, Healthy Communities DesignationProgram, and Healthy West Virginia Summit to be held in 2006;
West Virginia Public Broadcasting Foundation Inc., Charleston,$78,000, to deliver a digital data stream of instructional materialscalled Chalkwaves to 29 at-risk rural schools in West Virginia;
West Virginia State University Foundation Inc., Institute,$23,000, for continued support for Partnerships for Teacher QualityInitiative to develop a professional development school model ofteacher preparation at public institutions in the state;
West Virginia University Foundation Inc., Morgantown, $250,000,over two years for second-year funding for operating expenses for theWest Virginia University Business Incubator; $95,000, for continuedsupport for the Community Lay Helper Program, promoting cancereducation efforts through leadership training and project mini grantsto 18 rural communities; $50,000, for second-year funding forGeriatrics Educators of the Medical Schools of West Virginia toimprove education of clinicians and other health professionals incaring for the rural elderly; $40,000, for continued operation of theWest Virginia Entrepreneurship Initiative of the EntrepreneurshipCenters at West Virginia University and the University of Charleston;$135,000, for continued development of West Virginia Seniors Projectto increase outreach efforts and expansion of WVSeniors.org onlineresources; $15,000, for technology transfer and commercializationorganizational cataloging research; $150,000, over two years forimplementation of CARDIAC, a school-based heart disease and diabetesrisk factor surveillance program with interventions linked to schoolsand RHEP; $50,000, in support for CARDIAC Intervention Director andfurther development of the Web-based instructional modules, TakeCharge for Teens; $100,000, for continued development andimplementation of Family Storyteller, Reading Partners, and EnergyExpress; $75,000, for research, policy, and development of pilotprojects to improve access, quality, and outcomes of children'shealth services in West Virginia; $129,500, for continued support forPartnerships for Teacher Quality Initiative to develop a professionaldevelopment school model of teacher preparation at publicinstitutions in the state; $500,000, over three years as final grantto ensure sustainability of palliative care services in West Virginiaby developing skilled health-care professionals and an informedpublic; $210,000, over two years for implementation of statewidecollegiate business plan competition; $160,000, over two years forstudent internship program to provide assistance to start-up businessventures; $50,000, to support the Health Sciences and TechnologyAcademy Club projects focused on healthy nutrition and physicalactivity; $50,000, for development of the State Technology Transferand Commercialization Blueprint;
Wheeling Hospital, Wheeling, $75,000, for development anddissemination of testicular self-examination outreach program forhigh school boys in conjunction with the West Virginia Department ofEducation;
Wood County Schools, Parkersburg, $37,400, over two years forinstitutionalization of a heart-health screening and interventionprogram for students, implementation of a countywide physicaleducation curriculum, and research regarding the relationship of bodymass index to variables such as academic achievement and fitness;
WV Welfare Reform Coalition Inc., Charleston, $75,000, tostrengthen the statewide Earned Income Tax Credit campaign andevaluation of results of a locally designed outreach strategy in asix-county region;
WVU at Parkersburg Foundation Inc., Parkersburg, $34,000, forcontinued support for Partnerships for Teacher Quality Initiative todevelop a professional development school model of teacherpreparation at public institutions in the state.
