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.