In 2011, it had just $10,000 in grants to award and chose four community organizations, including the Bexley Public Library, that each received $2,500.

"Because of the generosity of our donors, we are able to give grants totaling $100,000 for the first time," said Susan Quintenz, Bexley Community Foundation board president. "We're excited about the vision and the opportunity they'll provide."

The recipients of grants will be announced in September.

The Bexley Community Foundation, which is located in a 400-square-foot office on South Drexel Avenue, has its roots in a project that started more than a decade ago.

In 1999, longtime resident Peter Halliday, with the help of a handful of other residents, started the Bexley Heritage Fund at the Columbus Foundation with a $50,000 commitment.

The Bexley Heritage Fund was active in projects such as the city's Southwest Master Plan, Pump House Park and helping to preserve the Jeffrey Mansion, before it became the Bexley Community Foundation and received nonprofit status in 2010.

For more information on the grants, including applications, visit the website bexleycommunityfoundation.org.

The board members of the Mason Community Foundation are pleased to be a part of this business that benefits so many in our community.

Editor's note: This is the third in a series leading up to Sturgis Area Community Foundations 50th anniversary Match Day event June 20.

Dresser said the Foundation has assisted the following projects with fundraising and grants: Trojan Timbers, Franks Park, renovation of the Sturgis community pool, Sturges-Young Auditorium seat campaign and the recent building project for Sturgis Hospital.

Dresser said new projects addressing important community needs include working with Sturgis Neighborhood Program to help rehabilitate housing in the community, assisting in the initial phases of a new senior center, establishing an endowment for new philanthropists called the Next Generation Fund for Sturgis, and establishing an endowment to support the new local college access network, Sturgis SUCCESS, which works to increase the number of college going and graduating Sturgis students.

SACF will match contributions to endowed funds dollar-for-dollar up to $5,000 per fund and contributions to non-endowed funds at 50 cents on the dollar up to $2,500 per fund until the match pool is exhausted.

Dresser said the Foundation has assisted the following projects with fundraising and grants: Trojan Timbers, Franks Park, renovation of the Sturgis community pool, Sturges-Young Auditorium seat campaign and the recent building project for Sturgis Hospital.

Dresser said new projects addressing important community needs include working with Sturgis Neighborhood Program to help rehabilitate housing in the community, assisting in the initial phases of a new senior center, establishing an endowment for new philanthropists called the Next Generation Fund for Sturgis, and establishing an endowment to support the new local college access network, Sturgis SUCCESS, which works to increase the number of college going and graduating Sturgis students.

SACF will match contributions to endowed funds dollar-for-dollar up to $5,000 per fund and contributions to non-endowed funds at 50 cents on the dollar up to $2,500 per fund until the match pool is exhausted.

Real Housewives Pre-Show Drama: Sonja Morgan Accuses Aviva Drescher of Phony Philanthropy | Observer

RHONY

Real Housewives Pre-Show Drama: Sonja Morgan Accuses Aviva Drescher of PhonyPhilanthropy

Last night at the Harboring Hearts Spring Gala at the Rubin Museum, Real Housewives of New York star Sonja Morgan sniped about her new co-star, Aviva Drescher, calling the latter out for only joining charities after she knew she would be on the show.

We all went to one of her SoulCycle events, but she wasnt really involved with any charities, the ex-wife of JP Morgan told The New York Observer. Ive been the national spokesperson for One Step Ahead for approximately five years.

Besides, Sonja Morgan is an alcoholic, Ms.

WKKF Recognizes Parents United for Healthy Schools - W.K. Kellogg Foundation recognized Parents United for Healthy Schools a Chicago-based coalition of parents and guardians, educators and community leaders for its significant contribution in making Chicago schools healthier places for kids.

By promoting changes at the school and district levels, parent leaders on more than 50 wellness teams are playing an important role in creating the conditions for health and learning in Chicagos schools and ensuring that childrens school experiences help them develop healthy habits for a lifetime.

WKKF applauds Parents United for Healthy Schools for its accomplishments in promoting healthy schools and healthy kids and wishes the coalition continued success.

Shortly after a 6-year-old boy was suspended for singing a pop song to a girl deemed sexual harassment Colorado moved to ease disciplinary policies in schools, as other states have. The school declared it sexual harassment and told his parents that, because D'Avonte sang the same song to the same girl before, he is a repeat offender. One would require schools that suspend more than 25% of their students to adopt strategies aimed at reducing behavior that leads to suspension.

"Schools are too prone to send kids home from school by imposing out-of-school suspensions even for behavior that doesn't pose a safety threat, and the Legislature has made it too easy," said Assemblyman Roger Dickinson (D-Sacramento) in a recent news release. The federal Gun-Free Schools Act of 1994 required school districts to pass what came to be called zero-tolerance policies for firearms to remain eligible for federal funds. Over time many schools' zero-tolerance policies included sexual harassment and anti-bullying measures.

Outrage stories emerged, like the 6-year-old Delaware boy who faced reform school for bringing his Cub Scout camping utensil that included a knife to school. Or the middle school student in South Dakota who was suspended for 10 days because he gave a fellow student athlete a fish oil supplement a violation of no-drugs policy.

"There began to be an acknowledgment that perhaps pieces of zero-tolerance convey the wrong message; that they were more stringent than they needed to be or that they allowed for serious, serious misinterpretation," said Christie, adding that sometimes schools used the one-size-fits-all policy as an excuse to remove troublesome students.

of University Women, which last year reported that nearly half of all middle and high school students had been sexually harassed, also opposes zero-tolerance as a solution.

Funny they have no problem selling 'Gay' sex in schools but don't let Johny sing a love song!

This country has slide off the cliffs with this zero-tolerance and the socialists Bible of PoliticalCorrectness.

Utah school has been fined by the Federal Government for selling soda pop during lunch hour!

What we need in this country is some Leadership that will reduced government agencies that produce such regulations.

Now you all have a 'Gay' Obama day with your six year old in hand-cuffs!

--> Good Pitch New York 2012 / Events / Newsroom / Ford Foundation

On May 24, 2012, the Ford Foundation hosts Good Pitch New York 2012.

Seven teams will pitch their documentary films and outreach campaigns to an invited group of foundations, NGOs, advertising and digital agencies, social entrepreneurs and media organizationsproviding a unique opportunity to build partnerships around their project that will maximize its impact and reach.

As well as funding groundbreaking social-issue films (such as double Sundance winner Afghan Star, Berlin winner The Yes Men Fix the World, Sundance 2009 feature documentary The End of the Line, and Tribeca winner We Are Together), the foundation brokers relationships between filmmakers and the NGO and brand sectors in the UK to create better, more effective films.

Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program (DFP) supports contemporary nonfiction filmmakers worldwide with year-round activities, including the Sundance Documentary Fund, Creative Documentary Labs and workshops focusing on the art of documentary, and collaborative partnerships including the Stories of Change initiative with the Skoll Foundation, and major social justice and human rights initiatives with the Open Society Foundations and Ford Foundation among others. Please select Afghanistan Albania Algeria Andorra Angola Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Armenia Australia Austria Azerbaijan Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bhutan Bolivia Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana Brazil Brunei Darussalam Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burundi Cambodia Cameroon Canada Cape Verde Central African Republic Chad Chile China Colombia Comoros Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of the Costa Rica C D'Ivoire Croatia Cuba Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Fiji Finland France Gabon Gambia Georgia Germany Ghana Greece Grenada Guatemala Guinea Guinea-Bissau Guyana Haiti Honduras Hungary Iceland India Indonesia Iran, Islamic Republic of Iraq Ireland Israel Italy Jamaica Japan Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Republic of Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Lao People's Democratic Republic Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macedonia, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania Mexico Micronesia, Federated States of Moldova, Republic of Monaco Mongolia Montenegro Morocco Mozambique Myanmar Namibia Nauru Nepal Netherlands New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria Norway Oman Pakistan Palau Palestinian Territories Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Philippines Poland Portugal Puerto Rico Qatar Romania Russian Federation Rwanda Saint Kitts And Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Vincent And The Grenadines Samoa San Marino Sao Tome And Principe Saudi Arabia Senegal Serbia Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia South Africa Spain Sri Lanka Sudan Suriname Swaziland Sweden Switzerland Syrian Arab Republic Tajikistan Tanzania, United Republic of Thailand Timor-Leste Togo Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Tuvalu Uganda Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom United States of America Uruguay Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Vietnam Yemen Zambia Zimbabwe
Please select Academic/Researcher Current/Former Ford Fellow Current/Former Ford Grantee Former Ford Employee Foundation/Philanthropy Staff Journalist Nonprofit/Think Tank Staff Philanthropic Donor Policymaker Student Other

The $59,472 grant will be supplemented with a federal grant that has not yet been approved.

Joe Dahm, assistant public works director, said the total cost of the project is estimated at $144,093.

Dahm said the village cannot apply for the second, larger grant until June 1.

The project, expected to take about two weeks to complete, will replace aging fluorescent lights with newer, more energy-efficient ones.

Village Administrator Ryan Horne said he has talked to officials in Northfield who say they have saved as much as 20 percent on the cost of their lighting.

The village plans to replace lighting in seven facilities: the Richard T. Flickinger Municipal Center, 6101 Capulina Ave.; the Morton Grove Police Department, 6101 Capulina Ave.; Fire Station 4, 6250 Lincoln Ave.; the Public Works Department, 7840 Nagle Ave.; the south water-pumping station, 6702 Oakton St.; the north water-pumping station, 8820 National Ave.; and the American Legion Memorial Civic Center, 6140 Dempster St.

Currently, Village Hall, Public Works, both pumping stations and the Police Department have the oldest fluorescent light fixtures that consume an excessive amount of kilowatts of energy to light the interior of the buildings.

Savings are going to be considerable, Dahm said.

Dahm said the project will enhance the quality of the lighting in all of the seven buildings.

It also will virtually eliminate maintenance of the fixtures for the next five to eight years.

Dahm said the village learned about the grant funds after the Morton Grove Park District obtained one to upgrade lighting in its facilities.

We realized it was available and did our investigation of it, Dahm said.

The village has taken other measures to reduce energy and water use, including upgrading pumps and motors at both water-pumping stations. Control systems at the stations were also upgraded to reduce energy consumption.

In addition, the village has implemented programs to annually detect and repair leaking water mains, restrict outdoor sprinkling and use low-maintenance plants for public landscaping.

The Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation was created in 1999 as an independent foundation with an endowment established by Commonwealth Edison.

By Bill Lindelof The Sacramento Bee

Call The Bee's Bill Lindelof, (916) 321-1079.

Read more articles by Bill Lindelof

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