The Medina Sandstone Trust is thanking the community for its years of support, which have allowed the Trust to honor requests for annual grants.
The community endowment just completed its tenth year of making small grants to local programs, projects and organizations, which during that period total nearly $50,000.
Over the past ten years about 80 such grants have been approved by the citizen selection committee which includes Kelly Kiebala, Mark Kruzynski, Cindy Robinson, Cal Tuohey and committee chair Mike Zelazny. They met in November and have announced this year’s grant recipients.
There were ten new grants this year Awards included Arc of Genesee Orleans to continue improving the nature trail at Camp Rainbow to make it wheelchair accessible, Beds from Brian for bed pillows and pajamas for children in need, Friends of Medina Dog Park to add trees to provide shade for pups and their owners, Medina Historical Society to purchase additional shelving units and Open House signs, and Orleans Renaissance Group to help fund the installation of a NYS historical marker noting the canal/dam aqueduct,
In addition the grants contributed to some larger programs. Go Art! to help with the cost of the 2022 Day of the Dead Celebration, OCALS Learning Services for instructional curriculum and equipment for preschool tutors, Canal Village Farmers’ Market for the purchase of roll-up plastic barriers to enclose the bays to facilitate winter sales, P.Raising Kids Child Care Center for the purchase of new books, STEM activity sets and other materials for children ages 6-12, and the YMCA to help cover the costs of scholarships and provide funding for field trips, special events and guest speakers for youth in summer day camp and kinder camp.
Mike Zelazny stated that “Late each autumn we invite grant applications and even though the amounts given are modest they are genuinely helpful to many projects that benefit our community”.
In 2009 the Medina Sandstone Trust was created as an endowment managed by the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo. CFGB was established 100 years ago and has a rock solid reputation for financial management and, over the years, has managed 900 such endowments. That management has been trustworthy, according to Society treasurer Craig Lacy, and the original $18,000 in seed money has grown steadily each year. Sandstone Society board members Craig Lacy, Margaret Schreck, David Miller and James Hancock manage annual investments in the Trust.
