Groups receive grant awards

Thirteen organizations will be receiving financial assistance.

The Portland Foundation on Friday released its list of summer 2021 grant recipients and Teacher Creativity Mini-Grants, totaling more than $120,000 in funding.

Jay Community Center was awarded a pair of grants, including $20,000 to fund its senior citizen programming. The organization also received $11,000 for the purchase of a public address system.

The largest single grant — $29,000 — went to John Jay Center for Learning for the installation of LED lights. Arts Place was awarded $15,000 for its 2022 Arts in the Parks program, and Midwest Pet Refuge received $10,000 for renovations at its new facility.

Additional grants of $5,000 or more were $7,500 to West Jay Community Center for fitness room equipment, $6,900 to Jay County Historical Society for a large document scanner and $5,000 to Dunkirk Park Board for playground equipment.

Other grants were as follows: $3,400 to Jay County Pee Wee Football for a new scoreboard; $2,880 to Jay County Cancer Society for a “booking feature” on its website; $2,500 each to Jay-Randolph Developmental Services for chairs for clients and a new washer and dryer and Visiting Nurse and Hospice Home for telehealth and remote patient monitoring programs in Jay County; $2,200 to Pennville Community Boosters for the Pennville Pumpkin Festival; and $2,000 to Jay County Robotics for new fields and game elements.

Nine teachers received Teacher Creativity Mini-Grants of $300 or less to fund learning experiences which teachers feel are important to their students, yet are outside the budget of their school.

Those grants were as follows: $300 each to Carol Bantz of West Jay Elementary School for book bins and Nicci Littler of West Jay for a play kitchen, table and chairs; $295.64 to Josh Gibson of Bloomfield and East elementary schools for cannons and bowling sets; $295 to Janelle Kirby of West Jay for an IKNOWit website subscription and book shelves; Brooke Schmiesing of East Elementary for headphone holders; Jennifer Rupe of West Jay for a MobyMax website subscription and mini dry erase boards; $273.45 to speech teacher Beth Mathewson for three Kore Pre-Teen Wobble Chairs; $255 to Jennifer Johnson of West Jay for an IKNOWit subscription and board games; and Holly Farr of West Jay for an IKNOWit subscription.

The next deadlines are Jan. 7 for the winter grant cycle and Jan. 14 for Teacher Creativity Mini-Grants.

Grant applications can be filled out online by visiting The Portland Foundation’s website at portlandfoundation.org.