Grant Awards Totaling $13,500 Assist Efforts to Strengthen Arts, Culture, and Wellness in St. Lawrence County Community

    POTSDAM — Five nonprofit organizations serving residents of the greater Potsdam area will share more than $13,000 in grant support thanks to the generosity of the late John S. and Dorotha T. VanNess who continue to strengthen the community they selflessly served in their lifetimes.

     Through a series of new grant awards that impact the Potsdam area, John and Dorotha’s commitment to the community endures. The John and Dorotha VanNess Family Fund of the Northern New York Community Foundation recently approved $13,500 in support for five nonprofits that deliver arts, culture, history, and wellness-based programs. 

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Support Will Help Acquire Tools to Repair and Restore Tombstones

     BOONVILLE — Restoration of several decades-old gravestones in the Boonville Cemetery will move forward thanks to support from the Kenneth V. and Jeannette Remp Sawyer Community Fund of the Northern New York Community Foundation.

     A $7,000 grant will enable cemetery trustees to purchase a tombstone jack to accomplish this meaningful restoration work and repair several broken, fallen, and tipped headstones.

     With the first burials in the late 1850s, Boonville Cemetery is one of the oldest in the area and it has become a priority to fix several gravestones. For the last three years, the association has updated digital records to enhance genealogy and research requests related to the 166-year-old cemetery.

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Support Helps Library Acquire New Furniture, Games, and Electronics

     CONSTABLEVILLE — The village’s public library will soon see a vibrant new youth space as renovations to the upper level of its building are under way.

     Thanks to an $8,000 grant from the Kenneth V. and Jeannette Remp Sawyer Community Fund of the Northern New York Community Foundation, the updated space will see new furniture, games, and electronics. 

     The expansion project will greatly enhance the educational and recreational opportunities for children and families, as well as surrounding communities.

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Tri-County Seventh and Eighth Graders Could Win One of Ten $1,000 Grants to Support a Favorite Local Charity

     WATERTOWN — The Northern New York Community Foundation’s 2023-2024 Community Spirit Youth Giving Challenge is now open to tri-county students. The challenge seeks to engage seventh and eighth graders in learning about their communities while they compete for an opportunity to award a $1,000 grant to a local nonprofit organization of their choice.

     This is the seventh year of the program, which is made possible by donors to the Community Foundation’s Friends of the Foundation Annual Community Betterment Fund, corporate support from Community Bank and a major gift from an individual donor. Last year, grant awards were doubled to $1,000 with 10 winners selected, which means entries will be competitively judged and should be well-written and articulate a compelling case for support.

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Students Welcome New and Returning Council Members from Four High Schools for Yearlong Leadership Program

     WATERTOWN — The Northern New York Community Foundation recently named its 2023-2024 Youth Philanthropy Council class, welcoming 11 new and eight returning students to the leadership program.

     The Youth Philanthropy Council is an advisory committee of the Northern New York Community Foundation. Chartered in 2010, the program promotes positive youth development and engages young people in meaningful activities that build their skills while deepening their understanding of community needs and educating them about community philanthropy and its impact on Northern New York. Council members grow to become informed critical thinkers and philanthropic leaders as they engage in lessons
that may never be taught in a traditional classroom.

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