The Montgomery County Community Foundation (MCCF) gathered Thursday afternoon to award grant checks to 12 grant recipients in the first grant cycle of 2025. Awards totaled $263,424. MCCF Chief Executive Officer, Kelly Taylor welcomed everyone and thanked the nonprofit leaders for the work they do in our community. Fund owners in attendance were recognized and thanked, for without fund owners, the grants would not be possible. Listed by Area of Interest, the following grants were awarded:
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
- Crawfordsville District Public Library, $20,136
- The funds will be used to improve the library’s art displays and meeting spaces. An art hanging system will be installed on the second floor of the library. The well-worn carpeting in the heavily used basement meeting rooms will be replaced.
- Crawfordsville Masonic Temple Foundation, $38,740
- This historic building, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, serves as a community event center, The Masonic Cornerstone. Funds will be used to replace two failing basement furnaces and air conditioners with high efficiency units. ADA-accessible doors with automatic door openers will be installed at the existing ground level entrance.
- Ladoga Public Library, $3,594
- Patrons will be able to enjoy upgraded technology at the library. Funds will be used to purchase two new Dell Inspiration 7730 computers, as well as PC Reservation software and six Linsay 10.1 tablets with cases.
EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION
- Hand in Hand Creative Learning, $14,826
- HHCL provides high quality care for ages 0 through PreK. In an effort to improve programming and safety, the funds will be used to install window well covers for the outdoor play space, purchase two new strollers (one 4-seater and one 6-seater), and two new pieces of toddler playground equipment, one of which can be brought in for indoor use in the winter.
- Crawfordsville Community School Corporation, $23,470
- To improve fire safety and to comply with the State Fire Marshal’s regulations for childcare rooms serving children under 2 1/2 years old, three exterior access doors will be installed in the Toddler Room at Willson School. This includes the panic hardware, exit signs, emergency lighting, and ADA-compliant walkways.
HEALTH
- Montgomery County Free Clinic, $14,525
- Funds will be used to enhance community health service awareness, targeting approximately 2,300 uninsured county residents. Specifically, they will develop a bilingual (English/Spanish) website with an online application, create marketing materials, and increase community event visibility. This will improve online access for Spanish speakers, raise awareness of free clinic services, and boost vaccination clinic utilization.
HUMAN SERVICES
- Family Crisis Shelter, $9,632
- Household appliances will be purchased for four apartments. The apartments will be used as transitional housing for women graduating out of the shelter’s program but not quite ready to make it on their own. Case management services will support employment readiness and independent living.
- FISH Food Pantry, $5,000
- Locally, our Hispanic/Latino population has grown from 1.6% to 6.0% since 2020. FISH is making an effort to ensure our intercultural neighbors have foods they are familiar with such as tortillas, black beans, chilies, and plantains.
- Food Finders Food Bank, Inc., $5,000
- Food insecurity is an ongoing issue locally and according to Feeding America the food insecurity rate here climbed from 10.8% last year to 14.6% this year. These funds will allow five local partner organizations to distribute 18,000 lbs. of food (15,000 meals) to over 9,000 households in the next six months.
- Montgomery County Treasurer, $3,970
- The Juvenile Probation Dept. is committed to providing quality supervision, accountability, and intervention for youth ages 12-18. Funds will be used to implement two nationally recognized programs, Prime for Life and Moral Reconation Therapy (MRT). A system of positive incentives will be integrated to improve outcomes for diversion youth and those on formal probation.
- Sunshine Vans, $88,031
- Sunshine Vans will expand to provide public transportation starting January 2026. Funds will be used to acquire three new vehicles (one low-floor wheelchair minivan and two multi-passenger wheelchair accessible vehicles) as well as Trip Master Software, tablets for trip-tracking, and two-way radios.
YOUTH
- Boys & Girls Club, $36,500
- The Club serves youth ages 5-17 from all three school corporations in the county. The funds will support the staff training and implementation for “Academic Success, Leadership, and Workforce Development,” through initiatives like Project Learn, DIY STEM, Torch Club, and career exploration.
SPECIAL AWARD
- City of Crawfordsville, $10,000
- This special award is being made to the City to support the Downtown Mural Project. The project is part of the 180 in Color program of the 180 Alliance, a group of six central Indiana counties who are receiving Regional Economic Acceleration and Development Initiative (READI) funds from the Indiana Department of Economic Development (IEDC). Funding is provided through a combination of state and federal sources (including American Rescue Plan Act [ARPA] funds). The mural will be painted on the side of the building located at 120 S. Green Street, facing the Strand Parking lot.
The grants were made possible by the following MCCF Field of Interest Funds:
Preston and Anne Bost Early Childhood Education Fund, Crawfordsville Housing Fund, Darlene Harmon Early Childhood Education Fund, Richard and Nancy Inskeep Fund, Drs. Paul and Mary Ludwig Fund, Paul and Irmingard McKinney Fund, Herbert, Genevieve & Marian Morrison Fund, Faye O. and Anna Winter Schenck Fund, and the Joseph D. Smith Trust Fund.
And from these MCCF Unrestricted Funds:
Heather Barajas Fund, Harold and Linda Carpenter Fund, Chase Bank Fund, Richard and Elaine Chase Fund, James and Linda Cherry Fund, Hank and Nancy Coyle Fund, Dr. Fred and Elizabeth Daugherty Trust Fund, Irwin Lee Detchon Fund, Directors Fund, Earl F. and Ruby B. Elliott Fund, Barbara and Larry Frye Fund, Jack and Joyce Grimble Fund, Carl F. and Margaret Henthorn, Michael D. And Sally A. Hinkle Fund, Brian and Cheryl Keim Family Fund, Hubert and Martha Massing Fund, Wade Nixon Fund, Dale and Linda Petrie Fund, Montgomery County Physicians Fund, Plant Family Fund, Anita Rupar Fund, Florence Schultz Fund, Clark and Nancy Sennett Fund, James and Susan Smith Fund, Max Tannenbaum Trust Fund, Bobbye and Claude Thompson Fund, John and Sandy Tidd Fund in memory of Ernest and Anna Tidd and Joan and John Spray Fund, Louise and Winchell Fund, and the Damon C. and Bernice Seaman Wray Fund.
MCCF manages over 250 endowed funds, each established by donors with the desire to make Montgomery County a better place to live. Since 1991, over $31 million in grants and scholarships has been awarded to agencies and students right here in Montgomery County.
To learn more about MCCF Grantmaking, click here to review the eligibility guidelines and learn about the application process. Direct questions to Cheryl Keim, Grants & Community Relations Director at 765-362-1267 or cheryl@mccf-in.org.