Nelsonville Community Foundation
For information on ways to give to Nelsonville and the surrounding communities of Buchtel, Carbon Hill, and Murray City, click here.
When the former Nelsonville Junior High and High School buildings were replaced by a new campus, a group of Nelsonville residents didn’t want to see the history of those buildings erased like past community school buildings. So, they took action.
This group of citizens worked over 16 years to maintain and save those buildings to preserve a piece of Nelsonville history while also adding value to the community. And they succeeded.
The group knew that they wanted to keep the dollars from their investment in the community, so they used the dollars to create the Nelsonville Community Foundation at FAO to ensure that those dollars would continue to serve Nelsonville citizens and the surrounding areas forever through a permanent endowment.
2022 Annual Report
To view the Nelsonville Community Foundation’s 2022 annual report, click here.
Grant Opportunities
The Nelsonville Community Foundation is partnering with FAO’s I’m A Child of Appalachia® Fund to provide a grant opportunity to nonprofits, schools, and public organizations working to benefit residents in Nelsonville, Buchtel, Carbon Hill, and Murray City.
2023 grant applications closed on September 12, 2023.
Helpful Links and Documents:
2022 Grant Recipients

- Nelsonville Greyhound Park to fund a gazebo, benches and other upgrades.
- Greater Works Outreach Worship Center to purchase food from the Southeast Ohio Foodbank for its monthly food pantry and free community dinner.
- Hocking College Foundation to fund two Hocking College Student Work Scholarships, which provide work opportunities to students in exchange for tuition assistance.
- Majestic Galleries to update its lighting.
- Nelsonville-York City Schools to implement Appalachian Literature Circles into the Junior English curriculum at Nelsonville-York High School.
- Ohio University to distribute new books, provided by a Molina Foundation grant, to children, adults and families in Nelsonville, Hocking County and other parts of Southeast Ohio.
- Rising Suns Pharmacy to cover business expenses for its Southeast Ohio Free Pharmacy, which provides medication and pharmacy services to uninsured and underinsured individuals.
- Southeast Ohio Independent News to support media coverage of Nelsonville-area public meetings.
- Tri-County Career Center to fund enrollment and testing of 17 students in driver’s education programs.
Nelsonville Family of Funds
The Growing Family of Funds includes:
• Nelsonville Community Foundation
• Nelsonville High School Alumni Association
• The Katie McCoy and Mary Jane McKinley Music Scholars Fund of First United Methodist Church of Nelsonville
• Moon Family Legacy Fund for Nelsonville
Nelsonville Committee Members
• Stuart Brooks
• Steven Cox
• Kevin Dotson
• Dorothy Gettle
• Bill L’Heureux
• Jennifer L’Heureux
• Anita McDonald
• Betty Jo Parsley
Support the Nelsonville Community
The Nelsonville Community Foundation invites gifts from people who hold Nelsonville and the surrounding areas close to their hearts. As the Fund grows, it will invest in the community through grants that support projects and organizations improving quality of life for citizens in this area.