In keeping step with our founding goal to meet our community’s ever-changing needs, the Wayne County Foundation is incredibly proud to announce that $2,258,787.73 was granted to enhance the vitality and quality of life in Wayne County during 2020.

Scholarships

Thanks to our incredibly generous donors, the Wayne County Foundation offers a variety of scholarships to area students seeking educational opportunities beyond high school. Scholarships are unique and supports students with a variety of backgrounds, educational goals, and economic status. Each high school in the county has school-specific scholarships at their student’s disposal. Between the 150 scholarship funds housed at the Foundation, $488,751.39 was awarded to rising or returning college students in 2020.

COVID Relief & The Wayne County Cares Fund

The Wayne County Cares Fund was established by the Foundation in April 2020 as a means for human service providers to request targeted assistance for the most vulnerable members of our community. This fund became critically important as the COVID-19 crisis affected many members of our community’s livelihood and health statuses. Over the course of the year, $85,300 was granted from this fund to help those most in need. In addition to the Cares Fund, $16,833 was granted expressly for COVID relief.

Donor-Advised Funds

Thanks to our many local (or locally-based) philanthropists, the Wayne County Foundation manages forty-seven donor-advised funds. In a year that presented many unforeseen challenges, donor advisors recommended $387,978.19 in grants this year.

Spring Grant Cycle

As in past years, the Foundation also facilitated its annual Spring Grant Cycle, which serves opportunity for charitable organizations to receive funding for projects, programs and initiatives that help improve the quality of life and enhance the spirit of the Wayne County community. In all, thirty-eight local organizations received $235,541.52 from the Foundation. All of the Foundation’s community grantmaking is made possible by income from unrestricted and endowed field-of-interest funds.

“Wayne County has many great organizations that deliver needed programs and services to our community,” said Rebecca Gilliam, Executive Director of the Wayne County Foundation. “I am excited to see the impact of the projects that are receiving funding through this grant cycle.”

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The Wayne County Foundation exists to foster and encourage private philanthropic giving, to enhance the spirit of community and to improve the quality of life in the Wayne County, Indiana, area now and for future generations.