Colorado

The Arvada-based Colorado Gives Foundation, formerly the Community First Foundation, has announced grants and fundraising support totaling more than $5.7 million to organizations working to help communities thrive in Jefferson County. Recipients include Authentic Life Church, Golden United, A Little Help, and Zero Tolerance for Domestic Abuse.

Connecticut

The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven has announced grants totaling $115,000 to 10 Greater New Haven nonprofit programs through its Community Fund for Women & Girls. The grants from the Pathways to Economic Security for Women program aim to bolster job-skills training, entrepreneur coaching, housing stability, innovative childcare supporting women in the workforce, and other services focused on helping improve economic security for 3,584 local women. Recipients include CERCLE, Havenly, Inc., Spanish Community of Wallingford, and Winning Ways.

The Hartford Foundation for Public Giving has announced a two-year, $450,000 grant to the Blue Hills Civic Association (BHCA) to help it build on the work that the foundation has supported over the past several years. The new funding will help BHCA plan and develop its Neighborhood and Community Development Center, which will serve as the hub for BHCA’s job training and workforce development for youth and older adults in partnership with Connecticut State Capital Community College and other business and nonprofit partners. The center is slated to be complete by 2026.

Indiana

The Central Indiana Community Foundation has announced that Tom Kilian, president of its Hamilton County Community Foundation (HCCF) and IMPACT Central Indiana is leaving the organization, effective October 15. The HCCF executive committee has named Danielle Stiles-Polk, currently serving as vice president of external strategy and development, as interim president.

Iowa

The Quad Cities Community Foundation in Bettendorf has announced grants totaling more than $550,000 through its operations and program grants initiative. Twenty-nine area organizations will receive grants, including Aldridge Early Learning Center, Café on Vine, Hand in Hand, and Quad City Arts.

Ohio

The Dayton Foundation has announced a $13.9 million gift from the combined estates of longtime fund holders Robert C. Appenzeller and his wife, Phyllis J. (Joann) Appenzeller, for the R.C. Appenzeller Family Foundation. The gift represents the second-largest planned gift in the foundation’s 103-year history and cements a treasured family’s legacy in greater Dayton. The Appenzellers both passed away in 2022, he at the age of 99 and she at the age of 95, but their estates were only recently realized. The Appenzellers established their first Dayton Foundation charitable fund in 1997 to assist students who are majoring in engineering at an accredited college, university or trade school. More than 400 students have received a total of more than $600,000 in scholarship assistance to date. The Appenzellers’ annual scholarship was recently made renewable, offering 10 eligible students $4,000 per year for four years to help with rising educational costs.

West Virginia

The Parkersburg Area Community Foundation (PACF) has announced the creation of an endowment fund dedicated to celebrating the spirit of Larry Maxwell, affectionately known as “Mad Max.” The “Mad Max” Spirit Fund is designed to foster school spirit and pride at Parkersburg South High School (PSHS), where he taught English for 37 years. He also taught at Mountain State College for 22 years, worked as the PSHS assistant soccer coach for 7 years, and led the PSHS Rat Pack Spirit Group. The fund will provide annual distributions to PSHS to support initiatives that enhance school spirit and foster a strong sense of pride among students.

Wisconsin

The Community Foundation for the Fox Valley Region in Appleton has announced grants totaling $110,000 from charitable funds at the foundation to First 5 Fox Valley, which is working to transform the Trout Museum of Art building in downtown Appleton into the Together for Families: Fox Valley Family Resource Center. Awards include a $100,000 grant from the David L. and Rita E. Nelson Family Fund and community planning grants of $6,000 from the Women’s Fund for the Fox Valley Region and $4,000 from the John and Sally Mielke Early Years Fund for the Fox Valley.