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.
“The diversity of grant support deployed across the Clifton-Fine region will help many individuals, families and communities,” said Max DelSignore, Community Foundation assistant director. “You see the impact of every gift made to the Clifton-Fine Community Fund through these grants. As the fund continues to grow, and others generously participate with a contribution to the fund, more programs and projects will receive meaningful support and help the region prosper.”
The Northern New York Community Foundation stewards this charitable fund. To build initial support, the Foundation awarded a $50,000 challenge grant to donors interested in giving to this philanthropic resource. By the end of 2014, people from across the region came together to create a $100,000 community fund that will award grants to support local projects and nonprofit organizations in perpetuity.
A committee of citizens from the Clifton-Fine region collaborates with the Community Foundation to evaluate grant requests each year. The Clifton-Fine Economic Development Corporation is an important partner and assists in the stewardship of some grant awards from the Clifton-Fine Community Fund.
Since 2014, the Community Fund has awarded more than two-dozen organizations nearly $45,000 to support 45 projects and initiatives. This year’s grant recipients are:
- Cultural Arts Committee, $2,000 — To help complete a sustainable dock in Wanakena for community use. This grant is made in partnership with a gift from the Stephen Moyer & Lester Allen Fund of the Northern New York Community Foundation.
- Clifton-Fine Lions Club, $1,920 — To support the purchase of 21 new high-definition televisions for Clifton-Fine Hospital and its extended care facility.
- Cranberry Lake North Shore Hub, $1,500 — To help install a concrete pad alongside its building that will be used to host events, concerts, lectures, and additional outdoor use by the community.
- Clifton Community Library, $300 — Help acquire activity kit backpacks for visitors to enjoy at no cost.
The Clifton-Fine Community Fund will accept proposals for 2024 grant funding in August. Complete details and an application will be made available early next summer. Meanwhile, to help extend the effort and make a gift to the fund, visit nnycf.org to access secure online giving.
About the Northern New York Community Foundation
Since 1929, the Northern New York Community Foundation has invested in improving and enriching the quality of life for all in communities across Jefferson, Lewis, and St. Lawrence counties.
Through partnerships with businesses and organizations, charitable foundations, and generous families and individual donors, the Community Foundation awards grants and scholarships from an endowment and collection of funds that benefit the region. Its commitment to donors helps individuals achieve their charitable objectives now and for generations to come by preserving and honoring legacies of community philanthropy while inspiring others.
The Community Foundation is a resource for local charitable organizations, donors, professional advisors and nonprofit organizations. It also works to bring people together at its permanent home in the Northern New York Philanthropy Center to discuss challenges our communities face and find creative solutions that strengthen the region and make it a great place to live, work, and play.