Wednesday, March 2, 2011

The Ford Family Foundation Awards $250,000 to the Fern Ridge Service Center

The Ford Family Foundation makes grants to public charities that predominantly benefit small communities in rural Oregon and Siskiyou County, California. Their mission of "successful citizens and vital rural communities" is achieved in part by directing grant resources to projects and programs which align with their grant guidelines.

With that in mind the Fern Ridge Service Center Partners submitted a grant request to Ford Family to help build the new Fern Ridge Service Center to replace the Garcia Center, which no longer accommodates the number of volunteers, range of in-house services provided, and amount of food distributed. Foundation funds for the new Center will dramatically improve the capacity of the Partners to meet a growing need for services. It will also improve safety for volunteers and food storage, provide private spaces for sensitive social services, and offer meeting rooms for seniors and those utilizing the food bank. Importantly, the new Center will support these enhanced services while providing a community dining and socializing space to host seniors and residents in need.

On February 18, 2011 The Ford Family Foundation acknowledged the need for the new center and awarded the project a $250,000 grant. With this grant award and other local fundraising, the Fern Ridge Service Center Partners (FRSCP) have secured nearly $350,000.

In April, the FRSCP hopes to apply for a Community Development Block Grant totaling $1,400,000. This grant in addition to the $350,000 currently raised will put us in a position to begin final design and get construction documents created.

Continued support of this project is greatly needed to help make it a reality. Please support this project anyway you can. If you would like to volunteer for a fundraising event or would like to make a donation, please call Zac Moody at the City of Veneta at 541-935-2191 or by email at zmoody@ci.veneta.or.us.

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