October 27, 2006
Cameron Foundation celebrates 2-year anniversary of grantmaking by awarding yet another $1.3 million to community organizations
The board of trustees of The Cameron Foundation is pleased to announce that it has awarded grants to 27 Tri-Cities and Southside Virginia organizations totaling $1,344,810. This round of awards completes the Foundation’s second full year of grantmaking activities and was presented at a special second-anniversary celebration held at Petersburg’s Southside Railroad Station yesterday at 4 p.m.
The Foundation was established in April 2003 from the proceeds of the sale of Southside Regional Medical Center and made its first grants in October 2004. To date, The Cameron Foundation has provided over $9.9 million in grants to communities in the Tri-Cities and Southside region. This is the final set of grants to be awarded in the 2006 calendar year.
Cleve Wright, president of the board of trustees, said, “Many may find it hard to believe that a Foundation of our size incorporated only three and a half years ago has already successfully completed two full years of grant making totaling more than $9.9 million and is getting ready to publish its first biennial report. Many foundations take twice as long to get to where we are today. The speed and effectiveness our Foundation has demonstrated is largely due to the commitment and dedication of the Board and the hard work of our outstanding Foundation staff.”
The Cameron Foundation is an independent, nonprofit organization that makes grants for project-specific, capital, general operating, and technical assistance purposes to eligible charitable nonprofit organizations and municipal agencies. Its mission is to provide resources to improve both the health and quality of life of people living in the cities of Petersburg, Colonial Heights and Hopewell, as well as the counties of Dinwiddie, Prince George, Sussex and the portion of Chesterfield County lying south of U.S. Route 10. The Foundation makes grants three times a year – in February, June and October – after a four-month evaluation process.
Larry Tucker, chairman of the Foundation’s grants committee, noted, “Over time, we have learned that many local nonprofits are simply too under-resourced to take full advantage of our grant opportunities. As a result, we revised some of our grant guidelines to allow organizations to apply for general operating funds and other capacity–building initiatives. We feel that such grants specifically help their day-to-day operations, and will enable them to better accomplish their missions.”
Based upon the board’s decision, the following 27 organizations were awarded grant funds:
Alzheimer’s Association – Petersburg Branch $15,000
Appomattox Regional Library System $109,030
Appomattox Regional Library System $35,000
Bensley-Bermuda Volunteer Rescue Squad $34,020
Blackwater Regional Library $6,000
Central Virginia Food Bank $37,000
Central Virginia Legal Aid Society – Southside Office $45,000
City of Petersburg Department of Museums and Visitor Services $46,000
Colonial Heights Office on Youth $40,000
Colonial Heights Police Department $29,350
Dinwiddie Department of Social Services $24,480
ElderHomes Corporation $70,000
Friends of the Lower Appomattox River $45,000
Harrowgate Elementary School $10,000
Legal Aid Justice Center $80,000
Petersburg Health Department $80,000
Prince George County Historical Society $80,000
Prince George Department of Fire & Emergency Medical Services $15,750
Reach Out and Read Virginia $30,000
Richard Bland College Foundation $310,000
Southeast 4-H Educational Center $30,000
The Community Foundation Serving Richmond & Central Virginia $10,000
The James House Intervention/Prevention Services $45,180
United Way of Greater Richmond and Petersburg $70,000
Virginia Center for Healthy Communities $13,000
Virginia College Fund $25,000
Virginia Mentoring Partnership $10,000
TOTAL $1,313,780
The Cameron Foundation engages in grantmaking in seven program areas, including health care, human services, civic affairs, community and economic development, education, conservation & historic preservation, and cultural enrichment. The Foundation does not allocate a fixed percentage of its grants toward any particular community.
According to Handy Lindsey, the Foundation’s executive director, “In order to make The Cameron Foundation more effective and helpful to the organizations we serve, we continue to explore a number of new initiatives. In addition to changing our grant guidelines to allow for capacity-building projects, we will add an additional program officer position to the Foundation staff in order to increase our own capacity to work with our grantees and applicants. We’re also in the process of creating a nonprofit resource center that will open early next year in the new Appomattox Regional Library System, headquartered in Hopewell, and we’re going to be offering courses on a variety of nonprofit management topics. We will continue to offer individual and group information sessions for local nonprofits to better enable them to successfully apply and receive funding from The Cameron Foundation, and we hope that this will position them to approach other local, regional, and even national philanthropies.”
The Foundation is governed by a board of trustees consisting of nine community leaders who serve without monetary compensation. Current board members include: Cleveland A. Wright, president; Ann C. Taylor, vice president; Dr. Jerry W. Isbell, secretary; Kevin A. Hill, treasurer; and Dr. Gurpal S. Bhuller, John H. Clements, James L. Thacker, Betty W. Thweatt and Larry C. Tucker. More information about the Foundation and its grant opportunities can be found on its website, www.thecameronfoundation.org, or via telephone at 804-732-8900.