By The Post-Journal

editorial@post-journal.com

The Chautauqua Region Community Foundation is now accepting grant applications for charitable activities to benefit the Falconer, Kennedy and Ellington communities.

Grants ranging from $1,000 to $4,000 will be awarded from the Falconer Region Community Fund and Donald R. Swanson Memorial Fund.

In 2012, lifelong residents of Falconer, Maurice and Doris Roach, led efforts to convene stakeholders and community members to discuss the needs of their community. Their conversations led to the creation of the Falconer Region Community Fund to ensure charitable activities would continue to thrive in the region that makes up the Falconer Central School District.

“The creation of this fund will serve our entire region,” Maurice Roach stated at the time. “It looks towards the future and will help continue to provide for benevolent activities.”

After seeing this fund’s impact on their community, the family of Donald Swanson, a former Falconer resident, established a similar fund at the Chautauqua Region Community Foundation after his passing in 2017.

Together, the Falconer Region Community Fund and Donald R. Swanson Memorial Fund have granted nearly $80,000 to support charitable activities and needs associated with nonprofit organizations, churches, municipalities and schools located within the Falconer Central School District boundaries.

Additional grant making has been made possible through a gift from the Board of Directors of the former Methodist Gardens that was placed in the Falconer Region Community Fund in 2018.

For organizations that have an idea for a charitable activity to benefit the Falconer region, but need assistance navigating the online application portal, contact Elizabeth Jones, Chautauqua Region Community Foundation community impact officer at 661-3390 or via email, ejones@crcfonline.org.

The online grant application can be accessed by visiting chautauquagrants.org. The deadline to apply is April 1.

The Chautauqua Region Community Foundation currently administers more than 700 endowments to support community needs, nonprofit organizations, and local students pursuing higher education.