Medina County Women’s Endowment Fund announces $13,000 in grants

The Medina County Women’s Endowment Fund of Akron Community Foundation announced its 2017 grant distributions on Friday, June 16. Grants totaling $13,000 were awarded to nine nonprofit organizations serving women and children in Medina County.

A grant to the Children’s Center of Medina County will help the agency purchase new medical equipment.

Since its inception in 1998, the fund has awarded 94 grants totaling nearly $150,000 to improve the lives of local women and children.

Among this year’s recipients is the Children’s Center of Medina County, which received an $800 grant to replace aging medical equipment. The funding will help the organization purchase a new ophthalmoscope and otoscope to examine children’s eyes and ears as part of the complete physical evaluation performed on all children who report abuse.

“The new equipment will guarantee a more thorough and accurate diagnostic impression to ensure children with health issues can be referred to the proper specialists,” said the center’s executive director, Rhonda Wurgler.

The grant will enable the Children’s Center to serve at least 400 children throughout Medina County over the next decade.

“It is vital that the children who are treated at the center receive the very best care, and we’re proud to provide medical equipment that will help the Children’s Center fulfill its mission,” said Dr. Mari Halkovich, chairperson of the MCWEF Grants Review Committee.

Other grants awarded this year will provide emergency assistance to women and children in rural communities, support substance abuse prevention programs in schools, and educate students about teen dating violence.

The following is a full list of grants awarded in 2017:

Brunswick Educational Foundation, to support the BEAT Video Program, in which student journalists create print, web and video stories about Medina County initiatives for broadcast by Northeast Ohio media outlets, $500

Children’s Center of Medina County, to purchase diagnostic medical equipment to examine children who have reported sexual abuse, $800

Feeding Medina County, to provide bags of healthy food for hungry elementary and preschool students to take home for the weekend, $1,500

First Impression Inc., to purchase undergarments and personal items for underprivileged female job seekers, $1,600

Matthew 25 Coalition, to provide emergency assistance to women and children in rural southwest Medina County, $750

OutSupport Inc., to purchase age-appropriate library books about LGBT issues for schools in Medina County, $1,750

Rape Crisis Center, to prevent teen dating violence by educating middle and high school students in Medina County about bullying, consent and healthy relationships, $2,000

Summer Reinforcement Program Inc., to purchase Chromebooks for students in the remedial reading program to increase their literacy and digital learning skills, $600

Wadsworth Drug Free Community Coalition, to support substance abuse prevention and awareness programs for children and families in Wadsworth, $3,500

About the Medina County Women’s Endowment Fund
The Medina County Women’s Endowment Fund, an affiliate of Akron Community Foundation, was established in 1998 to improve the lives of women and children in Medina County. The mission of the Medina County Women’s Endowment Fund is to fund organizations and programs in Medina County that support women and children, to serve as a catalyst for needed projects, and to assist women in their growth as philanthropists. The fund encourages the advancement and full participation of women and children in the community and in society. In addition, it supports organizations and programs that create opportunities for the educational, physical, emotional, social, artistic and personal growth of women and children. Since the fund’s establishment, it has grown to almost $390,000 and awarded nearly $150,000 in grants. For more information, or to contribute to the Medina County Women’s Endowment fund, go to www.medinawomensendowment.org.

About Akron Community Foundation
Celebrating 62 years of building community philanthropy, Akron Community Foundation embraces and enhances the work of charitable people who make a permanent commitment to the good of the community. In 1955, a $1 million bequest from the estate of Edwin Shaw established the community foundation. As of March 31, 2017, it is a philanthropic endowment of nearly $202 million with a growing family of 560 funds established by charitable people and organizations from all walks of life. The community foundation and its funds welcome gifts of all kinds, including cash, bequests, stock, real estate, life insurance and retirement assets, just to name a few. To date, the community foundation’s funds have awarded more than $139 million in grants to qualified nonprofit organizations. For more information about Akron Community Foundation or to learn more about creating your own charitable fund, call 330-376-8522 or visit www.akroncf.org.