CFO, Commerce Trust Co. present $200K to nonprofits

Community Foundations of the Ozarks and Commerce Trust Co. partnered last week to present grants totaling $200,000 to 20 organizations serving rural areas in central and southern Missouri.

Funded through the 2014 Louis L. and Julia Dorothy Coover Regional Grantmaking Program, the grants were given to organizations addressing needs associated with poverty, health, the environment and arts issues. The 20 recipients were selected from proposals asking for $904,299 in funding, according to a news release.

Area nonprofits receiving grants include:

• Branson-based Developmental Center of the Ozarks, $18,000 to pay for operational costs of serving individuals with developmental challenges;
• Springfield-based Catholic Charities of Southern Missouri, $15,000 for support services for homeless and impoverished mothers.
• Ozark-based Children's Smile Center, $12,000 to purchase supplies for preventive and primary dental care for low-income children in Lawrence, Stone and Christian counties;
• Aurora-based Tri-County Pregnancy Care Center, $10,000 to provide education, prevention and treatment of sexually transmitted diseases in Lawrence, Barry and Stone counties; and
• Springfield-based Women in Need of the Ozarks, $3,000 to help cover operating costs for helping working women in Greene and Christian counties.

The grants come through the Louis L. and Julia Dorothy Coover Charitable Foundation, established by the late Julia Coover in 1992 to honor her husband's memory. With the latest grants, the foundation has distributed more than $3.8 million, the release said.