Staff report
Piedmont Players Theatre, Hood Theological Seminary and Catawba College have received the largest grants among more than $2.2 million approved for community projects this year by the Salisbury-based Blanche & Julian Robertson Family Foundation.
Each of those entities is experiencing significant growth and upgrades.
Piedmont Players received $300,000 for its capital campaign to build a new children’s theater on East Fisher Street in Salisbury.
Hood Seminary will use a $200,000 grant to replace its campus administrative computer software.
Catawba College will apply its $200,000 grant to renovation projects it has under way.
The Blanche & Julian Robertson Family Foundation approved 78 grants this week totaling $2,252,807 and representing 9.6 percent of its asset base.
It was the second straight year that the foundation committed substantially over the $2 million mark.
As in the past, Rowan-Salisbury Schools received support for a variety of projects, ranging from auditorium lighting at North Rowan High School, to 21st Century classroom technology, to tennis court renovations at West Rowan High School.
According to Executive Director Dave Setzer, the foundation board reaffirmed its commitment to the success and quality growth of the local school system, especially through the placement of new technology and techniques of teaching and learning.
The board also expressed its continued support of Superintendent Dr. Judy Grissom and her administrative team. School projects and programs received grants totaling $684,107.
In addition, the foundation approved Meals on Wheels of Rowan for inclusion in the foundation’s Continuing Support Grant Program. This designation means the agency does not have to submit an annual grant request, but will receive $35,000 each year as long as its leadership, mission and program maintain their vitality and level of service to the community.
The Continuing Support Grant Program is on a rolling cycle of three years, followed by a board review, and action for renewal or modification.
The current members of the Continuing Support Grant Program were renewed for 2008: Community Care Clinic, $25,000; Communities In Schools, $25,000; Habitat for Humanity, $20,000; Rowan County United Way-Day of Caring, $40,000; and Rowan Helping Ministries, $50,000.
The foundation was chartered in the Fall of 1997 with an initial gift of $15 million from Salisbury native Julian H. Robertson, Jr., now of New York. He named the charitable organization in memory of his parents, Blanche S. and Julian H. Robertson, Sr., longtime residents of Salisbury.
Over the past decade, Robertson has increased the foundation’s assets with additional gifts of $21 million. The foundation has a current operating investment base of $23.4 million.
Over its 11 years, the foundation has approved $19,555,123 in grants.
James F. Hurley chairs the foundation board, with James G. Whitton serving as vice chairman and assistant secretary and Margaret H. Kluttz, secretary. Other board members are Catrelia S. Hunter, Clay Lindsay Jr., Scott Maddox, Lillian Morgan, and Fred Stanback Jr. of Salisbury; Alex Robertson and Spencer Robertson of New York City; and Wyndham Robertson of Chapel Hill.
The list of grants:
– Abundant Living Adult Day Care ó $50,000 for its capital campaign;
– Adolescent & Family Enrichment Council of Rowan County ó $60,000, general operating support;
– The Arc/Rowan ó $7,500 for its summer day program;
– Carolina Artists ó $3,000 for the Handicapable Art Expo project;
– Catawba College ó $200,000 for facility renovation and upgrade;
– Communities In Schools ó $25,000 for school mentoring and drop-out prevention;
– Community Care Clinic ó $15,000 to expand its pharmacy program;
– 19-C District Court Judges Office ó $42,000 to support Families Reunited program;
– Family Crisis Council ó $30,000 operational support for the Battered Women’s Shelter;
– Godstock ó $15,000 for operational support;
– Good Shepherd’s Clinic ó $10,500 for its dental care program and expansion of the diabetes program;
– Healthy Children of Rowan ó $10,000 for Reach Out/Read program and $10,000 for Healthier Fit Future and diabetes in youth program;
– Historic Salisbury Foundation ó $5,000 for an archival project with the Salisbury Mill Village;
– Hood Theological Seminary ó $200,000 for replacing its administrative computer software;
– Livingstone College ó $100,000 for its Summer Bridge Program with new students;
– Lutheran Home at Trinity Oaks ó $25,000 for sunroom construction;
– Meals on Wheels of Rowan ó $35,000 for operational support;
– N.C. Center for Nonprofits ó $25,000 for support of Rowan nonprofits through professional training and administrative resources;
– N. C. Cooperative Extension ó $3,000 for 4-H Summer Fun support and $1,000 for agricultural career pathways program;
– Partners in Learning Child Development Center ó $50,000 for kitchen remodeling and upgrade;
– Piedmont Players Theatre ó $10,000 for the youth drama program and $300,000 for the children’s theatre capital campaign;
– Prevent Child Abuse Rowan ó $20,000 in operating funds for the Terrie Hess House;
– Rowan Arts Council ó $3,700 for repairs to its mobile stage;
– Rowan-Cabarrus Community College ó $10,000 for upgrades to the nursing curriculum’s SimMan program;
– Rowan County Health Department ó $25,000 for the Health Link program;
– Rowan County Senior Services ó $5,000 for the SAFE program;
– Rowan Helping Ministries ó $30,000 for the Crisis Assistance Ministry;
– Rowan Museum ó $15,000 for the summer history camps;
– Rowan Rescue Squad ó $10,000 for protective gear;
– Rowan-Salisbury Schools ó $100,000 for 21st Century model classrooms;
– Rowan-Salisbury Schools ó $120,000 for phase II of IMPACT technology for elementary schools;
– Rowan-Salisbury Schools ó $13,552 for automated external defibrillators;
– Rowan-Salisbury Schools ó $8,000 for the 2009 Elementary Honors Chorus;
– Rowan-Salisbury Schools ó $39,000 for Horizons Unlimited;
– Rowan-Salisbury Schools ó Knox Middle School Band Booster Association, $25,000 for band instruments;
– Rowan-Salisbury Schools ó Knox Middle School, $8,543 for classroom technology, including SMART Boards, $20,000 for the “It’s Saturday and We’re Having School!” mentoring program and $5,000 for athletic uniforms;
– Rowan-Salisbury Schools ó Koontz Elementary School, $42,462 for classroom technology;
– Rowan-Salisbury Schools ó North Rowan High School, $40,000 for lighting and sound improvements and control booth construction in the auditorium;
– Rowan-Salisbury Schools ó Overton Elementary School, $27,000 for CRANIMALS, the Crazy About Animals interdisciplinary program for grades K-2;
– Rowan-Salisbury Schools ó Salisbury High School, $57,000 for a mobile computer laboratory, $8,300 for TI-84 graphic calculators, $9,000 for the “Plugged into Reading” remediation program, $8,550 for Spanish and English for Speakers of Other Languages software programs, $14,000 for softball field construction, $35,000 for athletic field maintenance equipment, $6,000 for track equipment, $15,200 for band instruments, $7,500 for choral risers;
– Rowan-Salisbury Schools ó West Rowan High School, $50,000 challenge grant designated for tennis court restoration and construction;
– Rowan Vocational Opportunities ó $15,000 for equipment upgrade in the production department;
– Rufty-Holmes Senior Center ó $30,000 for the building expansion program and $10,000 for client scholarships;
– Salisbury Police Department ó $15,000 for Project SAFE Neighborhoods;
– City of Salisbury Public Art ó $5,000 for the Salisbury Cotton Mills pocket park project at West Fisher and South Church streets;
– Saving Grace Farm ó $10,000 for operational support;
– Smart Start Rowan ó $10,000 for a dental varnish program for young people;
– Special Olympics of North Carolina ó $10,000 for Rowan County Special
Olympics programming;
– Students in Training ó $25,000 for operational support;
– Waterworks Visual Arts Center ó $30,000 in operational support and $5,000 for 2009 Summer Artist Residency program for middle school students;
– West Rowan Neighborhood Advisory Council ó $10,000 for restoration of Clement School;
– Westside Community Foundation ó $18,000 for Stepping Up Youth Education and Enrichment Center;
– Michael Yang Foundation ó $5,000 for Circle of Hope counseling and facility budget support;
– YMCA of Rowan County ó $10,000 for completion of outdoor trail at Saleeby-Fisher YMCA in East Rowan;
– Young Life Salisbury ó $20,000 to support three sessions of summer camp for Salisbury High School disadvantaged and disabled students.