The holiday season is an active time for giving by businesses and individuals.
These were some of the recent monetary and grant awards announced for Region organizations and groups serving the Michiana area.
- Legacy Foundation, the community foundation for Lake County, awarded $548,270 to 34 organizations, around the Region. Organizations receiving funds: ASW Foundation; Beachfront Dance School; Building Leaders Advancing Community Knowledge; Building Our Future; Center for Independent Documentary; Center for Possibilities; Challenger Learning Center of NWI; Community Help Network; Dunes Dog Training; Force for Good; Franciscan Health Foundation; Gary Historical and Cultural Society; Gary Public Transportation Corporation; Girl Scouts of Greater Chicago and Northwest Indiana; Hands of Hope Adoption & Orphan Care Ministry; Hope Christian Church; In-Pact; Indiana University Northwest; IUPUI Lilly School of Philanthropy; Lake County Community Services; Lake County Fire Chiefs Association; MAKS Corp.; Maria Reiner Center; Morning Bishop Theatre Playhouse; Pink Ribbon Society; Rise NWI; South Shore Dance Alliance; South Shore Neighborhood Development Corp.; The MAAC Foundation; Town of Griffith Parks and Recreation Department; Urban League of Northwest Indiana; Wabash Center; Wheelchair Ramp Ministry; and White’s Residential and Family Services.
- NIPSCO’s ninth annual Hope for the Holidays campaign, combining company and employee donations provided more than $93,000 to benefit community-serving organizations throughout northern Indiana this holiday season. Eight Toys for Tots organizations each received $2,000, located in Lake County; North Lake Co. (Gary, Hammond, East Chicago, Whiting); Porter, Starke and Jasper; LaPorte County; Miami, Cass, Howard, Fulton, Wabash, Grant and Tipton; Allen, Adams, DeKalb, Huntington, Noble, Steuben and Wells; Elkhart County; and St. Joseph County. These organizations also received funds: Community Harvest Food Bank of Northeast Indiana; Salvation Army of Lake County; North Township Trustee’s Office Coat Drive; Trinity United Church of Christ Turkey Giveaway; New Hope Too Coat Drive; United Way of Miami County; United Way of White County; and Family Services Association of Howard County. NIPSCO also donated $10,000 to TradeWinds, with a portion of the donation going toward purchase of a passenger van with a wheelchair lift. NIPSCO also is partnering with Adams Radio Group for its “Spread the Love” campaign, which offers listeners the opportunity to donate funds to victims of domestic violence. This year’s Spread the Love campaign will support The Caring Place in Valparaiso and St. Jude House in Crown Point, which each are receiving a $5,000 donation from NIPSCO.
- Franciscan Health Dyer dedicated the expansion of its behavioral health programs for adolescents between the ages of 12 and 17. The expansion to the Adolescent Partial Hospitalization Program and Intensive Outpatient Program was assisted by a $10,000 donation from NIPSCO’s Charity of Choice program.
- First Financial Bank and the First Financial Foundation awarded $44,000 in grants to seven Northwest Indiana organizations. Organizations receiving funding include Greater Hammond Community Services; Northwest Indiana Reinvestment Alliance; Meals on Wheels of Northwest Indiana; Lafayette Transitional Housing Center; Gary Community Partnership Corporation; Tradewinds Services in Merrillville; and Junior Achievement of Chicago.
- CLH, CPAs & Consultants, an accounting and business consulting firm with offices in Michigan City and Valparaiso, donated an executive desk set, a staff workstation, and additional office equipment to Paladin Inc. of Michigan City, a non-profit organization that assists individuals with disabilities.
- The Pokagon Band of Potawatomi and its Four Winds Casinos donated 1,000 food boxes to those in need during Christmas week. Recipient organizations in Michigan include: Feeding America Michigan in Benton Harbor; Marcellus Community Food Pantry in Marcellus; Cooperating Ministries/Methodist Church in Hartford; Action Ministry Center in Dowagiac; Child and Family Services of Southwest Michigan; Lawrence United Methodist Church in Lawrence; and St Paul's Episcopal Church in Dowagiac. Recipient organizations in Indiana include: Food Bank of Northern Indiana in South Bend; MAC Albright in Mishawaka; Broadway Christian Parish in South Bend; Clay Church in South Bend; First United Methodist Church in South Bend; and River Park Food Pantry in South Bend.
- Members of Ivy Tech Community College’s Circle of Ivy from around Indiana celebrated their work in support of students at the college’s 19 campuses. Statewide, the more than 1,000 Circle of Ivy members raised $209,713 to fund 78 projects to diminish barriers to higher education and help Ivy Tech students to succeed. The 53 members of the Lake County and Valparaiso/Michigan City Circle of Ivy raised $6,400 and chose to fund Road to Graduation scholarships.
- South Bend International Airport’s 10th annual Bears in the Air program provided more than 2,000 teddy bears to children in six Michiana area hospitals. The bears were delivered by airport staff to Elkhart General Hospital, Saint Joseph Health System, Beacon Children’s Hospital, Spectrum Health Lakeland, Plymouth Medical Center, and A Rosie Place for Children.
- SpartanNash distribution centers pulled critical product, arranged logistics and transported more than $200,000 worth of supplies to the Kentucky communities of Mayfield, Dawson Springs and Bowling Green, which recently were struck by tornadoes. Supplies included three truckloads of bottled water and two trucks full of diapers, baby wipes, bath tissue, hand sanitizer, trash bags, shelf-stable foods and personal care items. Michigan-based SpartanNash is parent company of Martin’s Super Markets of South Bend.
