CONWAY — Gloria Cheshier, executive director of the Faulkner County affiliate, said the grants range from $750 to $2,100.
“Funding for our Giving Tree grants comes from local individuals and families. We invest their donations in the endowment, and it provides a permanent source of funding for charitable causes in our county.”
For example, Bethlehem House, a transitional homeless shelter in Conway, is using its $2,100 grant to purchase a new commercial refrigerator to be used for its food-service program.
Aimee Prince, development director for Bethlehem House, said the old refrigerators came from the former shelter to the new 72,000-square-foot, two-story facility at 1115 Parkway St., which opened more than three years ago.
“Right now, they’re costing us more in repairs than they’re worth,” she said of the refrigerators. One of the larger, commercial refrigerators “is the one on the blink.”
“We have to replace it anyway, and it’s really nice to know that we have money, that we don’t have to dip into operating funds to pay for it,” Prince said.
Judi Lively, executive director of Bethlehem House, said refrigerators are essential not only for the residents, but for outreach programs, including the weekly meals and food boxes given out.
“To me, the Giving Tree grants are exactly what they say — it’s not money we count on every year, but it really is — ‘Oh, we have a need, and here are some funds available; let’s apply for it.’
“It makes me feel like that book [The Giving Tree] — that feeling of happiness.”
Bethlehem House has room for 44 residents, including eight emergency beds. In addition to housing, showers are available for homeless people from 4:30-7 p.m. daily, and a food pantry and a free meal for the public are provided at 6 each evening.
Another grant recipient, the Women’s Shelter of Central Arkansas in Conway, received a $1,500 grant to go toward the purchase of mattresses and bed frames for clients’ rooms.
Carrie Curtis, executive director of the shelter, said it combined a grant from Walmart with the Giving Tree grant to replace 17 mattresses and frames and make them bed-bug proof, she said. “We’ve had some of the same mattresses since I started working there 17 years ago.”
Although the shelter has never had a bed-bug problem, other shelters have.
“It’s a pre-emptive action,” she said. “Between those two grants, I will be able to replace every one of those mattresses.
“We’ll be rid of any type of fabric that will allow for that, and we should be able to purchase some new, nicer, durable wood bunk beds with full on bottom, twin on top,” she said.
The 12 other grant recipients and their projects are as follows:
• The Conway Police Department to support the Book Center, a new component of the Conway Police Department’s fifth annual Child Safety Fair;
• The Arkansas Single Parent Scholarship Fund to provide financial-support scholarships to single-parent students to help them stay in school, complete their program and get a good-paying job;
• The Blackbird Academy of Arts in Conway to support the Arts Access Program for areas of the community that would otherwise not have access to arts-education classes and arts performances;
• The Boys & Girls Club of Faulkner County to support opportunities for youth to expand their knowledge of art through the funding of art-room equipment and supplies;
• The city of Greenbrier to provide site furniture, compost bins and a butterfly/pollinator garden and fund gardening supplies for demonstrations at events for the city community garden, located behind the Senior Center;
• Conway Cradle Care to expand its services to serve at-risk Faulkner County community members under age 25 who are pursuing higher education or employment to improve their lives, as well as the lives of their children;
• The Faulkner County Council on Aging Inc. to fund a vehicle to be used in the Meals on Wheels program;
• The Faulkner County Museum to serve as matching funds for a grant from the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program to paint and restore windows on the historic Faulkner County Jail building;
• Independent Living Services in Conway to purchase exercise equipment for the therapy department;
• The Ministry Center in Conway to outfit the warming station with cots and blankets;
• Renewal Ranch to provide a computer and printer for a new class to teach job-search skills and strategies to clients; and
• The Soul Food Cafe Mission to install a ventilation hood in its new facility at 1717 S. Donaghey Ave. to allow food services to be offered.
All nonprofit agencies in Faulkner County are encouraged to apply for Giving Tree grants from Jan. 10 through Feb. 15 each year. More information about Community Foundation grants is available at www.arcf.org.
Since 1976, the nonprofit Community Foundation has provided more than $156 million in grants, Cheshier said.
The leadership of the nonprofits will be honored at the annual Celebration of Giving Luncheon from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. May 10.
Senior writer Tammy Keith can be reached at (501) 327-0370 or tkeith@arkansasonline.com.