Arizona Funders Award $1 Million to Safety-Net Institutions
The Phoenix-based Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust has announced fifteen grants totaling more than $1 million to aid organizations providing direct assistance to Maricopa County residents.
For the second year in a row, ten area grantmakers — including the Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust, St. Luke's Health Initiatives, Valley of the Sun United Way, Wells Fargo, and the Arizona Community, Bidstrup, Whiteman, Steele, Bruce T. Halle Family, and Martha Jane Youngker foundations — partnered with Piper in pooling resources to help county residents meet emergency housing and food needs. Grants include $150,000 to the Association of Arizona Food Banks; $95,000 to the Salvation Army; $85,000 to A New Leaf; $55,000 to Lodestar Day Resource Center; and $25,000 to Catholic Charities Community Services.
"The economic crisis has not abated and, in fact, is exacerbated by increasingly drastic state budget cuts," said Piper Trust program director Carol Kratz. "Foundation grants cannot solve the problem but hopefully will help ease some of the pain Arizonans and the organizations serving them are facing today."
