Ithaca Rotary Club announces 2020 grant recipients amid pandemic

ITHACA, N.Y. — The Ithaca Rotary Club announced it has awarded nearly $13,000 in community grants that will pay for personal protective equipment (PPE) for an after-school program, packets of seeds and vegetable plants for low-income families, and online programming for a youth theatre group.

Ithaca Rotary’s community grants are intended to “promote the quality of life” in the greater Ithaca area. The grants — which range in amount from $200 to $1,000 — support organizations that have special projects or needs which are not funded by general funding sources, the club said.

The organization considered 33 proposals requesting $29,000 this year in the annual grant program. The Ithaca Rotary Club grants committee awarded the funding. Jessica Gosa, executive director of Foodnet Meals on Wheels, co-chairs the group.

“The decisions were especially difficult this year because there were so many worthy requests,” Gosa said in a statement. “The grants committee was impressed by all of the projects, which reflect how organizations have had to pivot their operations and programming during the pandemic.”

The Ithaca Rotary Club will recognize the agencies on Zoom during its 12:15 p.m. meeting on Oct. 7. Anyone who wants to attend the meeting can request a Zoom link on the club’s website at www.ithacarotary.com

Funding for the grants is raised through Rotary’s annual Little Apple Fall Follies (LAFF) event each October. This year, the organization postponed LAFF because of the pandemic, but organizers are hoping to stage the event in some form in the spring of 2021.

Grant recipients

The 2020 grant recipients, the dollar amounts, and how the recipients intends to use the funding are listed below.

The grants to Catholic Charities and Midstate Education & Service Foundation were provided by the Ithaca Rotary’s donor-advised fund at the Community Foundation of Tompkins County.

 

–Cancer Resource Center – $453

Comfort bags filled with personal care items

 

-Catholic Charities – $800

Family-style dinners for homeless women

 

-Cornell Cooperative Extension – Tompkins County – $1,000

Provide seeds, vegetable starts, and soil to low-income families

 

-Fall Creek After School – $971

Purchase PPE and supplies

 

-Family & Children’s Service – $1,000

Webcams for mental telehealth services

 

-Greenstar Community Projects – $1,000

Purchase a hoop house to extend growing season

 

-Habitat for Humanity – $1,000

Tools, safety gear, and PPE

 

-Ithaca Health Alliance – $899

Purchase IQAir Health Pro Plus air purifier

 

-Longview – $1,000

Add eight Wi-Fi points to improve telehealth and video chats

 

-Midstate Education and Service Foundation – $750

Purchase high-quality projector for youth trainings

 

-Open Doors English (CTA) – $1,000

Individual and small group tutoring

 

-Running to Places – $1,000

Free online programming for middle and high school students

 

-Tompkins Learning Partners – $988

Distance learning materials

 

-Unity House – $930

10 PPE emergency kits for Tompkins County programs