The Wabash Valley Community Foundation, through its Clay County affiliate, awarded $91,000 to seven non-profit organizations to benefit Clay County on April 24.

The award ceremony was held at the Buell Community Center in Clay City. The spring grant recipients’ projects will improve the lives of people living in Clay County by strengthening recreational and educational opportunities and meeting the needs of local children.

Funding allocations for the benefit of Clay County were awarded as follows:

• Clay City Youth League - $6,500 in support of new fencing around the ballpark.

• Clay Community Parks Association - $7,000 in support of the Craig Park Bridge landscaping and beautification project.

• Clay County Optimist Club - $4,500 in support of the Clothe-A-Child program, which provides essential clothing to children in need.

• Clay County YMCA - $12,000 in support of updating the youth programming space with new equipment and activities.

• Clay County Genealogical Society - $30,000 in support of the construction of a larger genealogy library.

• Terre Haute Symphony Association - $6,000 in support of music education tours to all seven elementary schools in Clay County.

• Town of Harmony - $25,000 in support of repurposing and restoring the tennis courts at Harmony Park into pickleball courts.

The funding for these grant awards is made possible through the generosity of individuals, families and businesses contributing to unrestricted community grant funds held by the Community Foundation. Earnings from these funds are awarded as competitive grants that focus on important charitable projects, enriching the lives of those in Clay County. Thanks to Lilly Endowment Inc.’s GIFT matching challenge grants, the amount available to grant has nearly doubled over the past ten years.

Donors currently have the opportunity to triple their gift and create a larger impact in Clay, Sullivan and Vigo counties. Thanks to a new GIFT initiative, contributions to any new or existing community grant fund will be matched $2-for-$1, but only while matching dollars remain. Gifts of cash, stock, IRA rollovers and Qualified Charitable Distributions, along with many other types of charitable gifts, can be used to leverage the matching dollars. Interested individuals are encouraged to contact the Community Foundation at 812-232-2234 or visit https://wvcf.org/gift-viii/.