Akron.com

Bath Community Fund reaches $100,000 grant milestone



BATH — On Dec. 4, Bath Community Fund (BCF) of Akron Community Foundation awarded $22,100 in grants to 12 local nonprofit organizations, bringing the fund’s cumulative grant-making total to more than $100,000 in five grant cycles.
The milestone comes six years after the fund was established by a group of Bath residents who wanted to preserve Bath’s historical and environmental legacy, enhance the local arts and culture landscape, serve youth through education and recreation, and meet residents’ social service needs.
“Bath Community Fund’s annual grants are made possible through the generosity of hundreds of local individuals, families and organizations,” said Kathy Sidaway, BCF Advisory Board chairperson. “Their belief in the fund’s mission and their ongoing gifts continue to grow the endowment for the benefit of current and future generations of Bath residents.”
Grant recipients include:
• Apollo’s Fire, the Cleveland Baroque Orchestra, $1,000 to provide free and discounted concert tickets for students and seniors in Bath;
• Bath Township, $2,500 for trail markers at the North Fork Preserve of Bath;
• Crown Point Ecology Center, $2,000 to build an outdoor classroom for environmental workshops and youth education programs, and $2,420 through Akron Community Foundation’s Community Response Fund For Nonprofits, to support a new vegetable garden dedicated to providing fresh, organic produce to the Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank and other local agencies feeding those in need during the COVID-19 pandemic;
• Girls on the Run Northeast Ohio, $1,000
to support the running-based youth development program for girls in Bath that combines physical activity with lessons about social and emotional wellbeing;
• Revere High School PTSA, $1,000 to support the BREATHE Initiative, which provides stress management tools for students and staff at Revere High and Middle schools;
• Revere Power Pack Program, $2,000 through Akron Community Foundation’s Community Response Fund For Nonprofits, to provide food to children and families in need in the Revere Local Schools district;
• Stewart’s Caring Place, $3,000 to provide emergency cancer wellness services for Bath residents;
• Summit County Astronomy Club, $2,000 to repair a telescope mount at the Fairlawn Rotary Observatory in the Bath Nature Preserve;
• The University of Akron Field Station, $2,000 to develop an outdoor classroom space and nature exploration station at the Bath Nature Preserve;
• Victim Assistance Program, $600 to increase awareness of support services for Bath residents impacted by crisis, violence or trauma;
• Victory Gallop, $2,500 to support therapeutic horseback riding programs for children with special needs and life-threatening illnesses;
• Western Reserve Historical Society, $2,500 to restore the pottery kiln and demonstration shed at Hale Farm & Village; and
• Western Reserve Playhouse, $2,000 to purchase equipment to video stream the theater’s performances and classes, and $2,500 through Akron Community Foundation’s Community Response Fund For Nonprofits to develop new online arts education programs as a safe alternative to summer camps and workshops during the COVID-19 pandemic.
For more information on BCF, contact Sidaway at 330-285-5893 or kathysidaway@hotmail.com.