Foundation for Roanoke Valley Scholarship Applications Available

Foundation for Roanoke Valley is now accepting scholarship applications for the 2011 academic year.  By completing one scholarship application, applicants can be considered for multiple scholarships.  Students about to complete their senior year of high school, students already enrolled in a trade school, college or university, and non-traditional students who have waited a number of years before starting their post-secondary education are eligible to apply.

To access the scholarship guidelines and application, please visit the Foundation’s website at www.foundationforroanokevalley.org.  Guidelines and applications will be available through the guidance offices of local high schools and some college financial aid offices.

Completed applications should be mailed to Foundation for Roanoke Valley, Attention: Michelle Eberly, P.O. Box 1159, Roanoke, VA  24006.  All completed applications are due no later than 5:00 p.m. on Friday, March 4, 2011, at the Foundation’s office.  This is not a postmarked deadline.  Applications received after the submission deadline will not be considered, and incomplete applications will not be accepted.  Some scholarships require applicants to complete the FAFSA (Federal Application for Free Student Aid) and submit a Student Aid Report (SAR).  For more information on the FAFSA, please visit www.fafsa.gov.

Foundation for Roanoke Valley administers over 240 endowment funds totaling over $40 million and works diligently to help local individuals and families establish permanent charitable legacies which will touch the community now and for generations to come.  Foundation for Roanoke Valley is one of the largest providers of educational scholarships in this region, annually awarding hundreds of thousands to hundreds of deserving students.

Local High School Students Continue to Give Back in Big Ways

            Foundation for Roanoke Valley’s Youth Leadership Committee kicked off its fifth year of “The Philanthropy Project” with a big announcement and over fifty-five yards of fleece material.  

The Youth Leadership Committee (YLC) is comprised of local high school students who are responsible for determining what they believe are the most important community needs, seeking to address those needs through a competitive grants process, reviewing grant applications, and making funding recommendations to the Foundation’s Board of Governors using a $25,000 budget.  

Over the past four years, the YLC has received in excess of $500,000 in grant requests and has awarded tens of thousands of dollars in grants to many local nonprofit organizations, with those grants typically totaling from $1,000 to $7,200 and covering a wide range of community programs, needs and opportunities.  However, this year the youth leaders will have an even greater task ahead of them:  to gain consensus amongst the group on a single community need or program that will receive the entire $25,000 grant.  This large impact grant will take the YLC over the $100,000 level in cumulative grants.

This year’s funding priorities will be determined by the YLC in January, and agencies will be able to apply online on or about January 14. 

As for the fifty-five yards of fleece, YLC members and Foundation staff made eighteen fleece blankets to give to children and teens staying at The Rescue Mission.  According to Lee Clark, Rescue Mission Director of Development and Finance, “For the first time ever in the Mission’s 62 year history, the numbers of women and children have outpaced the numbers of men in emergency shelter this year.”    

The fleece blankets will be added to “move out baskets” given to children and teens as they transition from emergency shelter to more permanent housing.   “We are so grateful for the continued support of the Foundation for Roanoke Valley’s Youth Leadership Committee in gifts like cozy fleece blankets to time spent volunteering with families in shelter to funding for special projects like the Mission’s Dr. G. Wayne Fralin Free Clinic for the Homeless,” said Clark.

YLC members also plan to visit a local retirement community on Valentine’s Day, work on a Habitat for Humanity project, volunteer at the Blue Ridge Marathon, and carry out other service projects still in the works.

The Philanthropy Project was established in 2006 by Foundation for Roanoke Valley to introduce high school students to the world of philanthropy, both in terms of philanthropy’s role in being a productive citizen of the community and philanthropy as a possible career option.  The program also develops leadership and consensus-building skills.  The following students comprise this year’s Youth Leadership Committee:  YLC:  Jordan Bazak, Patrick Henry; Leslie Brittain, Salem; Matthew Crush, Lord Botetourt; Emma Kauffman, Salem; Claire Martin, Northside; Elizabeth Sherer, Glenvar; Evelyn Strope, Franklin County; Cameron Todd, Hidden Valley; and Kelsey Tripp, William Byrd. 

Foundation for Roanoke Valley Accepting Applications for Winter Grants Cycle

Foundation for Roanoke Valley is accepting grant applications from local nonprofit organizations for three of its endowment funds.  Interested organizations should check the Foundation’s website, www.foundationforroanokevalley.org, to determine eligibility and to learn how to apply.
            Foundation for Roanoke Valley has switched to an online, internet-based grant application process. Applications for the Katherine Nelson Fishburn Foundation Fund, The Spetzler Fund, and the Roanoke Valley Children’s Fund must be submitted by January 18, 2011.
             The Foundation encourages organizations to visit the grants section of its website to learn more about the grant application process and to sign up for the Foundation's email list to receive future notifications of grant opportunities.
Foundation for Roanoke Valley administers over 240 endowment funds totaling $43 million and works diligently to help local individuals and families establish permanent charitable legacies which will touch the community now and for generations to come.

Foundation for Roanoke Valley Announces First Grants from its "Grants 4 Teachers" Program

Article by Courtney Cutright, Roanoke Times, November 23, 2010

The Foundation for Roanoke Valley last week awarded 20 grants totaling nearly $5,000 to Roanoke teachers through the new Grants 4 Teachers program.
The recipients are:

•  Laura Augustin, Jeri Barger, Marlene Dooley, Amy Duffy, Megan Lawson and Laura Totty; Monterey Elementary.
•  Leigh Anne Brewster, Garden City Elementary.
•  Stephanie Doyle, James Breckinridge Middle.
•  Andrea Greene, Roanoke Academy for Mathematics and Science.
•  Michelle Hallman, Hurt Park Elementary.
•  Cheryl Hambrick and Amy Tlockowski, James Madison Middle.
•  Cara Kenney and Teresa Sutherland, Fairview Elementary.
•  Laurie Matko and Jude Prashaw, Fallon Park Elementary.
• Eileen McCaul, Westside Elementary.
•  Leslie Rueff, Stonewall Jackson Middle.
•  Keith Thomas, Highland Park Elementary.
•  Jasmin Venable, Preston Park Primary.

Only Roanoke teachers were eligible for the pilot year, but foundation officials plan to extend the program to additional school divisions next year.