Tribune Staff Reports

A fall grant from the Community Foundation of Jackson County will help build a one-mile walking trail, install signage and create a wildflower habitat at Countryside Park in Crothersville.

The $4,189 grant, funded with earnings from the Immanuel United Church of Christ Vernon Township Community Endowment, Schneider Nursery Inc. Unrestricted Community Fund, Potts Family Endowment, Don Bollinger Memorial Fund and Jackson County Community Endowment, was awarded to the town of Crothersville.

The project is part of partnership involving the town, Crothersville High School Science Club and Oak Heritage Conservancy.

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It was among 16 grants awarded through the foundation’s fall grant program. The grants totaled $54,333.

Others will fund a toddler recreational program at the Boys & Girls Club of Seymour, help fund Kids Fest 2019, replace fire hoses for Hamilton Township and help preserve the historic Medora Brick Co. site in Carr Township.

The Countryside Park project aims to provide access to a safe, off-road nature walking trail, a beautiful community space where everyone is welcomed to spend time, signage and maps to ensure safe access to the trail and a place to connect with youth and others in the community, according to the grant application submitted by Tiffany Reynolds and Danieta Foster of the Crothersville Parks Board.

The application cited Jackson County’s high obesity rate as a factor for building the walking trail and encouraging Vernon Township residents to enjoy the outdoors.

“We want to make this a place where people want to come for fitness, wellness and time together,” Foster said. “We know that nature access can’t solve all of our problems, but we also know that it can help.”

The one-mile trail will be joined by a 15-by-50-foot wildflower habitat that will attract butterflies, other pollinators and people to the park.

This is the second phase of a larger effort to improve the park, according to the application. In the past two years, the town has helped add playground equipment and a picnic area. Future plans include building a shelter house and building a sidewalk that would link Countryside Park to the town’s sidewalks. Now, town sidewalks end half a mile from the park.

The foundation strives to help nonprofits and local communities make a positive impact on their community in a way that donors intended with their gifts.

“The foundation’s grant committee, board of directors and staff work hard to ensure that our unrestricted and field of interest earnings provide as large an impact as possible throughout Jackson County,” said Dan Davis, president and chief executive officer of the foundation.

The grant committee strives to ensure that grant dollars reach across Jackson County, said Priscilla Wischmeier, chairwoman of the foundation’s board of directors and the grant committee.

“This year, we’ve approved grants that will assist projects and programs in Brownstown, Crothersville, Dudleytown, Hamilton Township, Medora, Redding Township and Seymour as well as places in between,” Wischmeier said.

Earnings from unrestricted and field of interest funds are generated through prudent investment of the endowed gifts from individuals and businesses. A portion of the earnings from those investments remain in the endowed funds to protect against inflation, while other earnings become grant dollars that are awarded through the fall grant cycle, impact grants and classroom education grants.

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Grants approved

The following grants were approved by the Community Foundation of Jackson County:

Boys & Girls Club of Seymour, $2,500, for a toddler recreational play program.

Child Care Network Inc., $1,000, for Kids Fest 2019.

Developmental Services Inc., $4,500, for education and enrichment curriculum kits.

Dudleytown Conservation Club, $4,500, to replace the club’s roof.

Girls Inc. of Jackson County. $1,000, for the Friendly PEERsuasion program.

Gleaners Food Bank of Indiana Inc., $7,500, for the BackSacks Weekend Food for Kids program.

Hamilton Township Volunteer Fire Department, $3,340, to replace fire hoses.

Jackson County History Center, $7,500, to complete the sidewalk and back walkway.

Medora Brick Plant & Historical Sites, $6,254, to restore the Medora Brick Plant office building.

Mental Health America of Jackson County, $1,000, for the “I’m Thumbody Special” program and $2,250 for the Crisis Intervention Training program.

Oak Heritage Conservancy, $2,500, to fight back an invasive vine and save wildflowers at Lebline Wood Nature Preserve.

Seymour Museum Center, $800, for a 12-foot two-story rolling scaffold tower.

Town of Crothersville, $4,189, for a one-mile walking trail, signage and wildflower habitat at Countryside Park.

Town of Medora, $4,000, to repave the basketball court at the town park.

Turning Point Domestic Violence Services, $1,500, for Client Services Financial Assistance and Victims Rights brochures.

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Unrestricted funds

The Community Foundation of Jackson County administers the following unrestricted endowed funds: Aisin U.S.A. Mfg. Inc. Endowment; Donn Bishop Memorial Endowment; Don Bollinger Memorial Fund; Jackson County Community Endowment; Jackson County Unrestricted Endowment; Bob and Kate Hall Endowment; Thomas J. Lantz/Montgomery, Elsner & Pardieck Community Endowment; Psi Iota Xi Sorority Alpha Beta Chapter Endowment; Potts Family Endowment; SIHO Insurance Services Community Endowment; Virginia G. Otto Endowment Fund; Irwin Union Bank & Trust Co. Fund; Larry and Joanne Sunbury Community Endowment; Michael and Ardith Fleetwood Unrestricted Endowment; Nehrt Family Community Fund; Mary Evelyn Mellencamp Memorial Fund; Mark and Sue Smith Community Fund; and Fraternal Order of Eagles Aerie 655 Community Fund.

Field of interest funds

The Community Foundation of Jackson County administers the following field of interest funds: Cartwright Endowment for the Arts (performing arts); Granger H. and Ruth M. Smith Drug Abuse Prevention Fund; Carl Hemmer Memorial Fund (performing arts); Tri Kappa Endowment (charity, culture and education); The Shelter Fund (homelessness); Seymour Tubing Inc. Charitable Endowment for Education; and Jackson County Youth Foundation.

Other funds

Three other funds administered by the foundation contributed earnings for the 2018 fall grant cycle:

Immanuel United Church of Christ Vernon Township Community Endowment

Schneider Nursery Inc. Unrestricted Community Fund

Orville and Mary Schnitker Memorial Endowment

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