Appreciation, Recognition Dinner Honors Students, Founding Donors

     CANTON — Ten St. Lawrence County members of the class of 2023 were recently named as recipients of the Northern New York Community Foundation Evergreen STEM Scholarship. 

     Students are awarded the scholarship due to their interest and intent to study in a science, technology, engineering, or mathematics field while in college. Students apply during their junior year of high school and are selected in the summer. Recipients will receive a one-year $3,000 scholarship toward their freshman year of college next fall.

     The Evergreen STEM scholarship is made possible thanks to the generosity of former Gouverneur resident and Massena native Charles Owens and his late wife, Higouhi “Hi” Owens. The scholarship is a permanent fund of the Community Foundation and provides $30,000 annually for high school students who live in St. Lawrence County. Since its inception, 70 students have been awarded Evergreen STEM scholarships totaling $210,000 in educational support.

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Grant Will Help Wholesome Living Replace Costumes, Shoes Lost in Fire

     BOONVILLE — An education and wellness program that serves residents of the village and surrounding communities will replace dance shoes and costumes for one of its most important programs thanks to support from the Kenneth V. and Jeannette Remp Sawyer Community Fund of the Northern New York Community Foundation.

     A $3,000 grant will enable Wholesome Living to purchase new inventory for its dance and related programs that benefit children. Following the Main Street fire in the Village of Boonville in 2020, the organization lost a significant number of shoes and costumes uses for the program. 

     Wholesome Living has provided education and wellness activities to participants of all ages for nearly 10 years. One of its most important programs is offering noncompetitive dance to children and students in Boonville and surrounding communities.

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New Partnership Provides Permanent Resource to Extend Work Across Tri-County Region

     WATERTOWN — A new Community Foundation partnership with the Center for Community Studies at Jefferson Community College will ensure its vital work and mission will continue for years to come.

     The Center, in collaboration with the JCC Foundation, recently established an endowment fund at the Community Foundation that will provide a permanent resource to strengthen its efforts across the tri-county region. The Community Foundation awarded an initial grant of $75,000 to support the endowment.

     For more than 20 years, the Center has been a valuable resource that conducts community studies in each county, surveying residents of Jefferson, Lewis, and St. Lawrence counties.

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Support Helps Acquire Tools to Straighten, Repair Several Tombstones in Constableville’s Oldest Cemetery

     CONSTABLEVILLE — Restoration of several centuries-old gravestones in Constableville Rural 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 $4,000 grant will enable cemetery trustees to purchase a tombstone jack to accomplish this meaningful restoration work.

     With the first burial in 1801, Constableville Rural Cemetery is the oldest cemetery in the village. There are approximately 1,500 interments and 400 gravestones across two and a half acres. It has become a priority to fix several gravestones on site that are tipped slightly or entirely. 

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Grant Awards Totaling Nearly $6,000 will Help Strengthen Quality of Life for Residents Across the Region

     FINE — The Clifton-Fine Community Fund of the Northern New York Community Foundation will support four community projects with nearly $6,000 in grant funding for initiatives and programs that benefit residents of six southeast St. Lawrence County communities.

    The Clifton-Fine Community Fund was established at the Community Foundation in 2013 as a geographic-specific fund to support projects and programs that positively impact the quality of life in the southeast St. Lawrence County region, specifically in the towns and hamlets of Fine, Oswegatchie, Star Lake, Newton Falls, Wanakena and Cranberry Lake. The fund aims to enhance the quality of life for all who live in the region while maximizing the opportunity for residents to give where they live.

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