Springdale, AR – The Northwest Arkansas Community Foundation awarded seven grants on November 29 for $54,900 to area non-profits from funds established in the Foundation by the Northwest Medical Auxiliary and the Bates Charitable Trust Fund. The Auxiliary Grants Committee reviews grant applicants and organizations and recommends funding which is later approved by the Foundation Board of Directors.
The following two grants for $14,920 were recommended by the Bates Charitable Trust Fund and approved:
Our Farm – $10,920 support for two part-time care aids.
Northwest Arkansas Community College – $4,000 to support two scholarships for the health-sciences field of $1,000 each for the spring and fall semesters of 2001.
"We felt that both these grants continue to demonstrate the original mission of the hospital; namely, promoting the health field with scholarships to the Community College and helping young people with very real emotional and health needs,"explained Ed Clifford, Chair of the Bates Charitable Trust Fund.
Both of these donor-advised funds were created after Bates Medical center and Northwest Medical Center of Washington County's parent organization, Northwest Health Systems, was sold to Quorum Health Resources and became a for-profit organization. The Bates Charitable Fund decided in March to place its money in the Community Foundation to benefit nonprofit agencies in Benton County.
Prior to this round of recommended grants from their fund, the Community Foundation Board of Directors approved three grants for $480,000: $300,000 to Bentonville High School for their fine arts facility; $80,000 for the Bentonville/Bella Vista Trailblazers to construct two bridges; and $100,000 for a challenge grant to the Community Arts Center.
The Northwest Arkansas Community Foundation helps organizations in Benton and Washington Counties. It was founded in 1998 as the Community Foundation of Bentonville/Bella Vista and was expanded to include Washington, Benton, Madison and Carroll Counties. A community foundation is a publicly-supported, grant-making charity structured as a group of endowed funds.
