Cash-strapped Ballina Shire community organisations take note: the Northern Rivers Community Foundation (NRCF)in New South Wales has just announced its 2009 Grants Round, and is inviting applications.

The Chairman of the NRCF’s Grants Committee, George Lewin, said he was pleased to report that this year the NRCF had something like $24,000 to distribute to worthwhile projects.

Bainbridge Schools Foundation was among this year’s biggest winners of grants from the Bainbridge Community Foundation and its partners.

It won $8,000, and will use the money to fund salaries of remedial-reading teachers in Bainbridge Island public schools, according to a statement from the Bainbridge Community Foundation.

That grant was among 24 Bainbridge Community Foundation grants totaling $91,700 given to nonprofit groups that provide essential services.

Assistance League Chesapeake received a $1,000 grant for its emergency kits program from the Community Foundation of Anne Arundel County.

Bess Langbein, executive director of the foundation, and several members of the grantmaking committee of the foundation's board presented the check and learned more about the program during a kit packing session in March.

The emergency kits program, run by Assistance League in cooperation with Partners In Care Inc., distributes emergency supplies to homebound individuals in the county.

With local health providers’ budgets strained by the current economy, two local foundations are teaming up to help keep Cambridge residents healthy. Tufts Health Plan Foundation and Cambridge Community Foundation joined forces to make $17,000 in grants this week for local health projects.

The Tufts Health Plan Foundation’s mission is to promote healthy lifestyles and the delivery of quality care in its communities. The Tufts Health Plan Foundation is focusing on healthy aging to help meet the challenges of an aging society. The Cambridge Community Foundation supports a range of agencies that enhance the quality of life for Cambridge residents of all ages and backgrounds. CCF has a rich history of bringing people and institutions together to meet the challenges of changing community needs.

Silicon Valley Community Foundation has awarded more than $800,000 in grants to help the regional planning efforts to improve the California community.

Among the goals that the foundation hopes to achieve with the funding is to reduce the community’s traffic and air pollution, create affordable housing units and mixed use developments close to transportation. According to the foundation, the San Francisco Bay area could see an increase of 2 million residents looking for jobs and housing.

Goodwill Industries of Central Michigan's Heartland was the recipient of a $4999 grant from the Jackson Community Foundation. These funds were combined with a grant from the Battle Creek based Nonprofit Alliance and used to purchase a back-up register and generate a comprehensive retail reporting system.

GICMH has retail stores in the following locations: Battle Creek, Marshall, Coldwater, Jackson, Mason, Lansing, DeWitt, Charlotte, Hastings, and additional donation centers in Okemos and Eaton Rapids, Chelsea, and at the Northwest Refuse site in Jackson. Revenues from these retail operations are invested back into the organization to help people gain good jobs and become independent, tax-paying members of their communities.

Another round of emergency grants for food and shelter programs in Santa Clara County was announced today by the Silicon Valley Community Foundation.

The foundation will award about $500,000 in grants to 23 nonprofit organizations serving residents in need. In early May, the foundation awarded $1 million in emergency grants for food and shelter programs.

"As the county's unemployment has risen, more people than ever before are turning to food pantries and temporary shelters," Rebecca Salner, a media relations officer from the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, said of the emergency grants.

A $50,000 grant was awarded to Florida Tech from the Community Foundation of Brevard’s Kenneth R. Finken and Dorothy Hallam Finken Endowment Fund for research into the cause and cure of Alzheimer’s disease.

The lead Florida Tech researcher is Dr. Shaohua Xu, associate professor of biological sciences, who is already studying the origin of Alzheimer’s disease, using atomic force microscopy to test his unique theory.

The Greater Tacoma Community Foundation, which supports philanthropic activities, has recently awarded $405,910 to 42 Pierce County nonprofit organizations. In the first of five categories (Arts and Culture, Basic Need, Education, Environment and Neighborhood/Community) eight local arts organizations benefitted from the biannual grant money: Artist Trust, Arts Impact Puget Sound, the Broadway Center for the Performing Arts, the Northwest Leadership Foundation, the Northwest Sinfonietta, Tacoma Art Museum, the Tacoma Opera Association and the Tacoma Symphony Orchestra.

The funding was determined by a new framework, say Community Foundation officials, rewarding organization that "focus on root causes, identify systemic challenges, and support community driven solutions."

The Greater Green Bay Community Foundation recently awarded more than $89,000 to 14 Northeastern Wisconsin nonprofit agencies and programs through its Funds for Greater Green Bay.

The newest program on the grant roster is the Bellin Foundation's Kidshape/Teenshape program, which received $6,300. The grant subsidized a sliding fee scale to make the program accessible to all.