Fort Smith Community Foundation awards $18,640 in grants

The Fort Smith Area Community Foundation, a local office of the Arkansas Community Foundation, has awarded grants totaling $18,640 to 15 Sebastian County non-profits in the first of two annual grant cycles.

The largest Fort Smith Area grant was $2,500 to Good Samaritan Clinic to purchase a mobile vital signs monitor. The device will provide reliable readings regardless of the operator’s experience level.

“This was our largest pool of applicants, with 32 organizations asking for a combined total exceeding $100,000. Unfortunately, our resources do not allow us to meet all the needs,” Grants Committee Chair David Craig noted in a statement.

Other grant recipients include:
Abilities Unlimited of Fort Smith, $1,000
Community Services Clearinghouse, $1,000
Crisis Intervention Center, $1,200
Fort Smith Boys and Girls Club, $2,000
Fort Smith Historical Society, $500
Fort Smith Museum of History, $840
Fort Smith Symphony, $2,000
Fort Smith Trolley Museum, $400
Inter-Faith Pre-School, $1,500
Next Step Day Room, $1,500
Reynolds Cancer Support House, $2,000
The Hope Chest, $1,200
The Sack Lunch Program, $500
We Care Foundation, $500

Fort Smith Area Community Foundation makes grants through the Giving Tree program twice a year. The next grant cycle will begin in July, 2010. The Arkansas Community Foundation has more than $125 million in assets and has provided more than $75 million in grants since it began operation in 1976. That asset total includes $5.5 million in 43 funds originating from the Fort Smith affiliate.