Stealey grants fund projects
The Stealey Community Fund has awarded grants totaling $198,722 for 20 projects this year to benefit the Middlebourne area.
The allocation will bring the total amount of grant awards to more than $2.16 million since the fund was endowed in 1998.
The largest beneficiary is the Middlebourne Parks and Recreation Facilities, Inc., which will receive $55,850 for four projects.
Ruth Stealey Green, the fund’s benefactor, stipulated that all of the projects benefit the Middlebourne-area community. The awards are distributed and administered annually through the Community Foundation for the Ohio Valley Inc.
Green was a retired school teacher who died at the age of 84 on Feb. 14, 1996 at her home in Middlebourne. She created the fund in honor of herself and her brother, Philip Stealey, who died in 1993.
The Stealey family had a long history in the development of the town of Middlebourne and its activities. Interest accrued from the endowment is awarded annually to qualified and approved applicants.
The Stealey Community Fund is a component of the Community Foundation for the Ohio Valley Inc., which currently has assets of more than $24 million.
“The Foundation connects people who care with causes that matter by making grants to organizations working to improve the Upper Ohio Valley,” said Susie Nelson, executive director.
The Middlebourne Parks and Recreation Facilities will use $43,210 to direct activities and programs at the Stealey-Green Family Center and municipal park. A grant award for $6,726 has been allocated for a park improvement project. In conjunction with the Middlebourne Garden Club, the parks board was awarded $2,114 for Christmas lights and $3,800 for holiday celebrations.
Five projects sponsored by the Tyler County Board of Education received total funding of $28,570. They include:
-$7,686 to Boreman Elementary for Energy Express, a summer reading program;
-$8,952 to Boreman Elementary for the “School Days Plus” after-school program;
-$3,600 to WRSG, the school board’s radio station, for a summer radio program;
-$2,518 to Boreman Elementary to purchase musical instruments; and
-$5,814 to Boreman Elementary for an acoustical shell.
Other projects receiving funding included:
-Adams House Ministries, $8,968, to provide outreach services to low income families;
-Council of Senior Tyler Countians, Inc., $30,088 for parking lot improvements and purchase of a sign; and $1,800 for a community Vacation Bible School and $2,750 for a Christian Teen Camp, both of which are administered through the Middlebourne Baptist Church;
-Tyler County 4-H Leaders, $2,000 for Tyler County 4-H camp that will not be distributed until June 1, 2011;
-Tyler County Emergency Squad #1, $7,893 for miscellaneous equipment;
-Tyler County Heritage and Historical Society, $22,000 for heating costs at the Tyler County Museum;
-Tyler County Public Library, $13,421 for operating expenses;
-ArtsLink, Inc., $1,000 for a musical performance;
-Middlebourne Youth League, $6,000 for youth sports; and
-Middlebourne Volunteer Fire Department, $18,382 for the purchase of self-contained breathing apparatus devices.