Midland Area Community Foundation Helps Fund Scouting Anniversary Activities Midland Area Community Foundation News

The Lake Huron Area Council, Boy Scouts of America, along with other local councils throughout the US, is preparing to celebrate the 100 Year Anniversary of Scouting in America, which occurs during the year 2010. The Midland Historical Society has partnered with the Lake Huron Area Council to create an exhibit that will display local and regional artifacts, describe the unique contributions of the local Scouting movement, and highlight area Scouts over time.

Lake Huron Area Council, Boy Scouts of America, serves 13,332 youths in 19 counties in NE lower Michigan through the efforts of 3,118 volunteers.

Donations for the relief effort in Haiti have been pouring in from throughout Silicon Valley as children, adults and companies have responded to the devastating earthquake that struck near the capital of Port-Au-Prince.

The Silicon Valley Community Foundation's Haiti Earthquake Relief Fund is matching up to $100,000 in donations from donors, corporations and the community. The organization met its first $50,000 match in 24 hours, with the matching funds provided by the Irene S. Scully Fund. The second $50,000 matching program, announced Friday, was provided by the Lieve Roelandt Foundation. Donations will be sent to organizations working to provide critical assistance in Haiti, according to the Silicon Valley foundation.

"We're seeing the generosity of our community from all quarters," said Emmett Carson, CEO and president of the community foundation, adding that donations have been received from corporations, individual donors, kids and adults.

Steve Alley has submitted his resignation as president and CEO of the Community Foundation for Southern Arizona, according to an announcement made by Paul Lindsey, chair of the foundations board of trustees.

Alley, who is leaving to pursue other interests according to the announcement, will stay on until April 30 or until a successor is identified.

When he came to the foundation, the organizations assets totaled $61 million.

The IIdaho Community Foundation has awarded $218,832 in grants to 118 organizations in 18 counties in southwestern Idaho, including more than $40,000 in Canyon County. Overall, the grants support a wide range of community needs in Southwestern Idaho, ranging from clothes for women seeking jobs in Ada County to a new convection oven for a senior citizens center in Washington County.

Bijou Community School would like to thank the generosity and kindness of the El Dorado Community Foundation. Once again, the El Dorado Community Foundation has donated funds for essential programs like our library, the Two-way Immersion Program and the Parent Teacher Association.

Lorie A. Slutsky, president of the New York Community Trust, responds to readers.

Following is the second set of answers from Lorie A. Slutsky, president of the New York Community Trust , on community philanthropy, the value of many different approaches to charitable giving, and their importance in maintaining a strong democracy.

While the broad issue areas that your organization funds contain common threads, I have noticed that these issues affect people differently neighborhood by neighborhood.

New York has always been a city of neighborhoods, and that fact underlies our grantmaking. We focus on the poorest communities in all five boroughs, with an emphasis on funding local nonprofits that understand the needs of their residents and how best to help them.

Pierre Omidyar (oh-MEED'-yar), eBay's founder and chairman, and his wife, Pam, have donated $50 million to the Hawaii Community Foundation.

The charitable services and grant-making organization said Tuesday that a portion of the six-year commitment will be used to launch several community initiatives.

It says the rest of the money will support the Omidyars' ongoing philanthropic interests through their Omidyar Ohana Fund at the foundation.

A Pittsburgh-based maternal and child health care collaborative will undertake a unique and innovative initiative to help families face the challenges of parental depression and early childhood developmental delays.

Under U.S. federal law, all states must implement a system of early intervention services for infants and toddlers, birth to age three, who have developmental concerns, and their families. Many states do not include risk factors in their eligibility criteria.

The Helping Families Raise Healthy Children initiative is supported by a three-year, $500,000 matching grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Local Funding Partnerships program. The grant was awarded to Community Care, the managed behavioral health care organization in Allegheny County. Local funders of the initiative currently include The Highmark Foundation (nominating funder), UPMC Health Plan, The Pittsburgh Foundation, The Fine Foundation, FISA Foundation, and Jewish Healthcare Foundation.

Hall of Famer and Baltimore native Pam Shriver approaches her annual charity tennis classic in much the same way the U.S. Postal Service goes about delivering mail. Nothing is going to stop it.

"I think there is still a great desire to have that one fun night of tennis in Baltimore, and I'd like to see us reach 25 years," said Shriver, who will host the event for the 24th time Dec. 9 at 1st Mariner Arena. "And if it has to stop, I want a better reason for not having it than that the banks are having an economic downturn. We still have to go out and have our fun."

Shriver is the event's major guarantor this year, a shift from the past 23 years, when one bank or another -- five of them all together -- sponsored it. But this year, PNC Bank declined to renew its sponsorship, and no else has stepped forward to attach its name to the event, which benefits the Baltimore Community Foundation in partnership with children's charities.

Nineteen non-profit organizations received a total of over $135,000 in grants Wednesday at the Terre Haute Holiday Inn.

Wabash Valley Community Foundation volunteers chose each group. The non-profits were chosen after a long and competitive application process.

The grants come from donors who give money to reinvest in the community. Efforts also go towards saving up money for non-profits.