The Yates Community Endowment awarded $31,300 in grants to a dozen organizations that are serving Yates County residents.
Since its founding in 2011, the Yates Community Endowment has awarded more than $700,000 to support projects and programs in Yates County.
The 2020 grants awarded by the Endowment and several of its affiliate funds went to the following nonprofit organizations:
Arts Center of Yates County: To support the Rebooting Art program that allows for county residents to take part in the Arts Center workshops at a discounted price and in socially distanced space. $1,700
Center for Disability Rights: For the Rochester Rookies Wheelchair and Ambulatory Track & Field Program to provide a structured character-building experience for youth diagnosed with physical, learning, and developmental disabilities through participation in athletic training and tournament competition. $500
Dundee Library: To support the Girls Who Code program, which will engage 20 to 30 girls in grades 3 to 12 in computer science programming and hands-on skills, and develop a supportive community. $6,000
Family Counseling Service of the Finger Lakes: For the LGBTQ Advocacy Program, which serves as the main source for education, resources, and support of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer/questioning community in the region. $1,500
Finger Lakes Horizon Economic Development Corporation: To support the Yates County Be Local, Buy Local gift certificate program that promotes Yates County retail businesses through the trying times of the pandemic. $2,500
Manor Crest Foundation: The Communication With A Twist project is designed to increase and expand communication during the pandemic for residents of Penn
Yan Manor Nursing Home and Clinton Crest Manor using electronic devices. $5,000 (Fully funded by the Robert F. Flickinger Memorial Fund)
Our Town Rocks: This program encourages neighborhood self-reliance and furnishes continued support to promote and provide opportunities for Dundee residents of all ages to cultivate an active, healthy mind and become life-long learners. $3,500
Penn Yan Central School District: For the Family Support Center, which provides free, solution-focused grief therapy to students and their families to address issues
that become barriers to the functioning of a successful family. $1,500 (Fully funded by the Spring Hill Fund).
Safe Harbors of the Finger Lakes, Inc.: For the Kids Rights to Personal Safety program, which educates Yates County children about their rights to be safe, to be heard, and to be believed. $4,000
Thrive to Survive: The Building Cancer Support Services initiative focuses on improving support services for cancer patients in rural communities, with an expansion into Yates County. $500
Yates County History Center: For help covering the museum’s operating expenses, which are continuing to be paid while it remains closed, so that it can be a resource for the community in the future. $2,900
YMCA of Greater Rochester: Supports scholarships for Yates County youth to attend Camp Cory and participate in day-long, interactive educational curricula, including STEM and leadership-infused learning for youth ages 3 to 15. $1,700
In May, the Yates Community Endowment Advisory Board established the Yates Emergency Relief Fund to support nonprofits during the pandemic. More than $141,000 has been raised from local donors along with a generous match from the Nord Family Foundation. By early November, 28 grants totaling $131,527 had been awarded to the following 21 nonprofits serving Yates County:
- Arts Center of Yates County, $5,000
- Catholic Charities Community Services, $5,000
- Cornell Cooperative Extension of Yates County, $5,000
- Dundee Central School, $12,000 (2 grants)
- Dundee Children’s Center, $5,000
- Dundee Library, $1,935
- EZ Kids Creativity Shell, $2,500
- Finger Lakes Cultural and Natural History Museum, $5,000
- Finger Lakes Health Foundation, Inc., $3,000
- Finger Lakes Horizon Economic Development Corporation, $2,500
- Friendship House, Middlesex, $10,000 (3 grants)
- Legal Assistance of Western New York, $5,000
- Mozaic (a merger of Arc of Yates and Arc of Seneca/Cayuga), $10,000 (2 grants)
- Penn Yan Central School District, $5,000
- Penn Yan Public Library, $6,100
- Pro Action of Steuben and Yates, Inc., $12,500 (3 grants)
- Rainbow Junction, Ltd, $5,000
- Rochester Folk Art Guild, $5,000
- The Living Well/Penn Yan UMC, $15,000 (2 grants)
- Yates Cultural & Recreational Resources, Inc., $5,000
- YMCA of Greater Rochester’s Camp Cory, $5,992
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