CFO, Commerce Trust pick 18 nonprofits for grant cycle

Community Foundation of the Ozarks and The Commerce Trust Co. selected 18 central and southern Missouri nonprofits to receive $250,000 in regional grants.

Scheduled to be presented today, the funding is part of the 2016 Louis L. and Julia Dorothy Coover Regional Grantmaking Program. Julia Coover, who worked for Commerce Bank for 30 years, in 1992 established the foundation in her husband’s memory. It since has distributed roughly $4.2 million in grants to Ozarks organizations supporting community causes, according to a news release.

Recipients were selected from 95 proposals totaling $1.4 million in requested funding.

By grant amount, the selected nonprofits are:
    •    Coalition for Ozark Living Traditions, $20,000 to convert an Alton roller rink into a multiuse community space for cultural activities in Oregon County;
    •    Lighthouse Children’s Theatre, $20,000 to buy sound and lighting systems for children’s community theater in El Dorado Springs;
    •    Medical Missions for Christ Clinic, $18,500 to support Camdenton-area low-income patients with medical, sterilization and software equipment;
    •    Jordan Valley Community Health Center in Lebanon, $18,000 to purchase 300 hygiene kits for students and to support its Reach Out and Read program for young children;
    •    Breast Cancer Foundation of the Ozarks, $16,000 to provide mammograms at reduced rates to rural southwest Missouri residents;
    •    The Samaritan Center, $16,000 to buy equipment to improve the food pantry warehouse supporting Henry County residents;
    •    West Plains Community Garden, $15,380 to renovate garden space, including the addition of Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant walkways and parking areas;
    •    Council of Churches of the Ozarks – Ambassadors for Children, $15,000 to support foster care children in Christian and Taney counties;
    •    Food for Morgan County, $15,000 to purchase a van for the Wheels for Meals program that provides food to households in need;
    •    Sarcoxie Park Board, $15,000 to buy playground equipment;
    •    Bolivar United Methodist Church, $13,675 to support its school supply program dubbed Back to School Extravaganza;
    •    Dallas County Health Department, $10,035 for dental and public health education programs for Dallas County students;
    •    Art Feeds Joplin, $10,000 to provide educational programming and therapeutic art lessons at West Central Elementary School;
    •    Boys & Girls Clubs of West Central Missouri, $10,000 for its summer program for students ages 6 to 18;
    •    Neosho R-5 School District, $10,000 to support transitional education, which helps special education students prepare for adult life;
    •    Pulaski County Sheltered Workshop, $10,000 to support programs that provide local, healthy and affordable food for Sheltered Workshop employees;
    •    Wildcat Glades Conservation & Audubon Center, $9,410 to create a natural play area designed to encourage conservation and environmental education; and
    •    Ozarks Area Community Action Corp., $8,000 to provide Vocational Opportunities Inspiring Children in Elementary - aka VOICE - for students in Barry, Dade, Dallas, Lawrence, Polk, Stone, Taney and Webster counties.