The Sweet Home Community Foundation awarded grants to 10 community projects on March 15.
A total of $14,000 was awarded this year – less than in recent years because “the Oregon Jamboree, via SHEDG, was not able to provide charitable community support to the Foundation at the same rate as in years past,” Foundation President Bob Burford said.
He said the foundation, which was established in 1994, has given some $250,000 to fund an endowment and assist various causes in the community.
The Foundation is funded with donations from Sweet Home residents and the Oregon Jamboree.
Donations this year were:
$500 to Linn County Law Enforcement Agencies’ Shop with a Cop program, which gives children in foster care an opportunity to have a positive experience with police officers. The SHCF grant funds will fund Sweet Home children in the Lebanon and Albany area Shop with a Cop Program this year.
$1,000 to Fair Share Gleaners’ Operation Cold Storage to help purchase a commercial, energy-efficient glass door refrigerator unit. This allows members to view refrigerated items without having to open doors. Fair Share Gleaners currently serves 170 households.
$500 to Little Promises Children’s Program to replace existing recalled cribs in the nursery with safe cribs per the Consumer Products Safety Commission’s guidelines.
$1,000 to CASA of Linn County – CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) to help provide education, training and support to new volunteers who are appointed to children in east Linn County. CASA is positioned to address the needs of more than 80 abused and neglected children living in the eastern part of Linn County.
$2,500 to Oregon Cascade West COG Senior Services’ Senior Meals/Meals on Wheels to purchase meals for Sweet Home citizens. Combined with other program funds, the grant dollars directly increase the number of meals served to Sweet Home seniors and younger disabled clients in need.
$2,000 to Sunshine Industries’ Basic Life Skills Expansion Project to be used to purchase a freestanding range and oven, tables and chairs and additional kitchen items that will help clients learn to prepare and cook meals for themselves.
$2,500 to Linn/Benton Young Marines’ Camp Foster Cabin Restoration Project to help complete the restoration of the Camp Foster Cabin that will be used for training sessions, regimental and battalion encampments, leadership training courses and other activities to educate and advance the Young Marines in the state and other youth groups in the area.
$2,500 to Samaritan Health and Samaritan Pacific Health Services’ Senior Companion Program to support the Senior Companion Program (SCP) in Sweet Home. The SCP benefits low-income senior volunteers living and serving in Sweet Home, homebound residents of Sweet Home and their primary caregivers and families.
$1,000 to Sweet Home Pregnancy Care Center’s Baby Safety Project to help purchase cribs, crib mattresses, car seats and prenatal vitamins for clients who attend parenting classes and cannot afford to buy these items for their children or for themselves.
$500 to Sweet Home Emergency Ministries (SHEM) to purchase 448 square feet of anti-fatigue industrial cushioned floor mat for the SHEM building. This will offer a cushioned work area for volunteers, decreasing strain on feet and legs while increasing volunteer capacity. These mats will also prevent slipping and tripping hazards for clients and volunteers and can be removed and rearranged as needed.