Foundation gives nearly $80K in grants to area nonprofits
The Texarkana Area Community Foundation awarded nearly $80,000 in grants to local nonprofits and other programs Thursday night at the Texarkana Regional Arts and Humanities Council building.
The majority of those funds— $68,407—came from Texarkana Area Community Foundation unrestricted funds, and $10,700 came from the Goesl Endowment fund.
“These are intended to meet a broad range of philanthropic needs within the community,” said Ken Cox, the foundation’s executive director. “When a donor leaves unrestricted money in an endowment fund with instructions for the local board to designate that money every year, it allows those funds to adapt to the changing needs of the community.
“This year we have three grants going to backpack programs that provide food to school kids. I’d never heard of backpack programs five years ago. That’s something that’s developed within the last 10 years. If a new need comes up, a new group will develop to meet a need in our community, then they write a grant request to us and the board has unrestricted money to give out to these grants. We’re meeting ever-changing and developing needs in the community,” Cox said.
Programs received grants from $250 to nearly $6,000. Grant recipients include: Texarkana Animal League; Texarkana, Ark., Education Foundation; Girl Scouts Diamonds of Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas; HandsOn Texarkana; United Way of Greater Texarkana; Hospice of Texarkana; The Salvation Army of Texarkana; Alzheimer’s Alliance; Partnership for the Pathway; CHRISTUS St. Michael Foundation; Ange Fund; Literacy Council of Miller & Bowie Counties; Texarkana Area Community Foundation; KTXK Radio; Ozarka Mission Project; Domestic Violence Prevention, Inc.; 1st Choice Pregnancy Resource Center; American Red Cross in Texarkana; ArkLaTex Blessing Center; Ark-Tex Council of Governments Area Agency on Aging; Beech Street Communications KLFI-TV; Bowie County Child Protective Services; Bowie County Dive Team; Boy Scouts of America; Challenged Outdoorsmen of America; Citizens for a Better Community; Texarkana Farmer’s Market; Community Alternative Program; For the Sake of One; Harvest Regional Food Bank; Hospice of Texarkana; Howard County Children’s Center; Howard County Historical Society; The Jamison’s Center of Kindness Inc.; Junior League of Texarkana; Little River County Historical Society; Main Street Texarkana; Nicks Mission Backpack Program; CASA of Northeast Texas; Pioneer Washington Restoration Foundation; Randy Sams’ Outreach Shelter; Rosehill Neighborhood Improvement Association; Runnin’ WJ Ranch and Therapeutic Center, Inc.; Salvation Army; The Shreveport Opera; Southwest Arkansas Counseling and Mental Health; Stuff a Bus; Telford Prison Ministries, Inc.; Texarkana Area Crimestoppers; Texarkana Arts and Historic District; Texarkana Historical Society and Museum; Texarkana Regional Arts and Humanities Council Arts Integration Institute; Opportunities, Inc.; Texarkana Symphony Orchestra; Texas A&M University-Texarkana; Imagination Library; Watersprings Ranch.