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Philanthropic grants include library program for deaf
The Maine Community Foundation has wrapped up its bi-annual round of grants to nonprofits in Oxford County, and this time included a library offering programs for the deaf.
The philanthropic foundation gives out small grants each year to nonprofits in Oxford County, using interest earned from an endowed fund bestowed anonymously in 1997. The fund, which is worth more than $350,000, targets Oxford County exclusively.
The total awarded in the latest round was $15,000, shared between six organizations.
Charlotte Hobbs Memorial Library in Lovell received $700 to help pay for its deaf language programs.
"This is very unique. There is hardly any programming for the deaf in Maine," Anna Romer, the library director, said Friday.
The library began offering American Sign Language classes about three years ago, after a deaf family approached the library with the idea and volunteered to teach the classes. The Moore family, who summer in Lovell, are deaf, Romer said, including parents Ruth and Winchell and their two children.
Romer said she was hoping the Maine Community Foundation grant would cover the costs of offering a beginner and expert class in American Sign Language, as well as pay for more interpreters to translate the library's special events and talks.
For a two-hour event, the library spends about $500 on two interpreters, Romer said.
This year, Romer said the library hired interpreters for its storytelling festival Aug. 13, using a grant from the Maine Arts Commission.
She said about 85 people attended the afternoon event, including seven deaf people.
"You don't realize how many deaf people there are," Romer said.
The other organizations that received money this round were:
• The Fryeburg Water District for start-up funds for an office to work with Maine Rural Waters to purchase Fryeburg Water Co.
• The McLaughlin Foundation in Paris to create a new educational exhibit in the visitor's center explaining the history of the garden, how it was saved, and why it is culturally and historically significant.
• The Opera House Healthy Community Connections in Dixfield to build a health foods cooperative and distribution network to strengthen local agricultural markets.
• Parsonfield-Porter Historical Society to publish a book of history and pictures about Porter as part of the town's bicentennial.
• The Pennacook Art Center in Rumford to help with the start-up costs of training a board and volunteers, equipping the office and organizing membership drives.
Anne Marie Bartoo, regional coordinator for the Maine Community Foundation, said the committee that selects the grant recipients had to choose between 13 organizations asking for a total of $85,000.
"We limit requests to $7,500. That's the ceiling," Bartoo said Friday. "While we understand that nonprofits have tremendous need in the county, we try to spread that money around as much as possible."
Application deadlines annually are in January and May.
"We encourage nonprofits who are thinking about creative projects, particularly projects that will have long-lasting impacts in their community, to apply for the application," Bartoo said. "And we also like cooperation between organizations."
The Maine Community Foundation has wrapped up its bi-annual round of grants to nonprofits in Oxford County, and this time included a library offering programs for the deaf.
The philanthropic foundation gives out small grants each year to nonprofits in Oxford County, using interest earned from an endowed fund bestowed anonymously in 1997. The fund, which is worth more than $350,000, targets Oxford County exclusively.
The total awarded in the latest round was $15,000, shared between six organizations.
Charlotte Hobbs Memorial Library in Lovell received $700 to help pay for its deaf language programs.
"This is very unique. There is hardly any programming for the deaf in Maine," Anna Romer, the library director, said Friday.
The library began offering American Sign Language classes about three years ago, after a deaf family approached the library with the idea and volunteered to teach the classes. The Moore family, who summer in Lovell, are deaf, Romer said, including parents Ruth and Winchell and their two children.
Romer said she was hoping the Maine Community Foundation grant would cover the costs of offering a beginner and expert class in American Sign Language, as well as pay for more interpreters to translate the library's special events and talks.
For a two-hour event, the library spends about $500 on two interpreters, Romer said.
This year, Romer said the library hired interpreters for its storytelling festival Aug. 13, using a grant from the Maine Arts Commission.
She said about 85 people attended the afternoon event, including seven deaf people.
"You don't realize how many deaf people there are," Romer said.
The other organizations that received money this round were:
• The Fryeburg Water District for start-up funds for an office to work with Maine Rural Waters to purchase Fryeburg Water Co.
• The McLaughlin Foundation in Paris to create a new educational exhibit in the visitor's center explaining the history of the garden, how it was saved, and why it is culturally and historically significant.
• The Opera House Healthy Community Connections in Dixfield to build a health foods cooperative and distribution network to strengthen local agricultural markets.
• Parsonfield-Porter Historical Society to publish a book of history and pictures about Porter as part of the town's bicentennial.
• The Pennacook Art Center in Rumford to help with the start-up costs of training a board and volunteers, equipping the office and organizing membership drives.
Anne Marie Bartoo, regional coordinator for the Maine Community Foundation, said the committee that selects the grant recipients had to choose between 13 organizations asking for a total of $85,000.
"We limit requests to $7,500. That's the ceiling," Bartoo said Friday. "While we understand that nonprofits have tremendous need in the county, we try to spread that money around as much as possible."
Application deadlines annually are in January and May.
"We encourage nonprofits who are thinking about creative projects, particularly projects that will have long-lasting impacts in their community, to apply for the application," Bartoo said. "And we also like cooperation between organizations."