RSRF awards $397,952 in new grants

The Rising Sun Regional Foundation announced that it has awarded a total of $397,952 in 16 new grants for its 2008 fourth quarter grants cycle. These grants included:

• $7,000 to the Oldenburg Academy toward upgrades to the stage rigging system in its auditorium.

• $3,300 to New Horizons toward start-up expenses of a new program called Camp JuneBug, a four week day-camp to be conducted in the summer of 2009 for children with mild, moderate, and severe disabilities.

• $17,285 to the Ripley County Historical Society toward the purchase of storage and display furniture for its museum.

• $21,408 to Ripley County Department of Parks & Recreation toward a lighting project for the newly purchased six-acre site adjacent to its fairgrounds park.

• $25,830 to St. Mary’s School in Aurora for several exterior improvement projects for its students’ play area and food pantry facility.

• $48,877 to the Batesville Community School Corporation toward the purchase of ceiling mounted presentation systems throughout the Batesville Middle School.

• $40,000 to South Ripley Community School Corporation toward the addition of flexible theater seating for its auditeria at the junior/senior high school.

• $12,000 to the St. Louis School in Batesville toward the purchase of Promethean Interactive White Boards for nine of its classrooms.

• $25,000 to the Aurora Little League toward the construction of a new concession/restroom/storage facility in one of the City of Aurora parks.

• $5,000 to the Ohio County Community Foundation in honor of recently retired founding RSRF board member Larry Elliott, to the Phyllis Brown Memorial Scholarship fund.

• $6,205 to Ohio County Historical Society toward expenses associated with its Civil War reenactment event in 2009.

• $33,680 to the City of Rising Sun toward the purchase of a new telescopic boom lift for its streets department.

• $18,194 to the Rising Sun/Ohio County Community School Corporation toward the purchase of a new pickup truck with snow plow equipment.

• $18,173 to the Ohio County Sheriff’s Department toward the purchase and installation of technology equipment for its updated public safety system.

• $16,000 to the Ohio County Highway Department toward the purchase of a stand-by emergency generator for its new central garage facility.

• $100,000 to the Rising Sun Retirement Community Task Force (to be paid over two years) toward the development and implementation of a strategic plan to effectively attract more retirees to make their homes in Rising Sun, a broad-based community/economic development initiative.

Marianne Wiggers, president of the foundation noted, “We are pleased and proud to have just completed our 12th consecutive year of grantmaking, totaling in excess of $22 million, to governmental, educational, and nonprofit organizations in our southeastern Indiana grants region.” She added, “Looking forward to 2009 and beyond, however, the increasing uncertainty of both the regional gaming industry and the general economy has caused us to project a declining grantmaking capacity in the future. Consequently, we have also correspondingly reduced our administrative budget in 2009 to free up additional grant funding.”