Gifts to the Lawrence County Community Foundation’s endowment fund are invested, with earnings from those dollars returned to our communities through grants to nonprofits, schools and public organizations serving our neighbors.

With the support of our donors and in partnership with FAO, our grants fund projects and programs that advance opportunities across five areas, known as our Pillars of Prosperity: arts and culture, community and economic development, education, environmental stewardship, and health and human services. Emphasis is on supporting individuals of all ages who are spearheading projects and programs that create opportunities, meet pressing needs and unleash the potential within Lawrence County.  

The 2024 grant application closed on Sept. 10.

A growing impact, year after year

$15,000 awarded in 2023!

In 2023, the Lawrence County Community Foundation awarded seven grants, totaling $15,000, to support initiatives benefiting our residents and communities. This includes a grant for a project developed and implemented by Lawrence County youth under age 18, empowering our young people’s good work today and inspiring them to embrace future roles as community builders.

Grant Recipients

  • HomeTown Love of Chesapeake to support a beautification project that will include building a stone flower bed, installing lighting and placing flowerpots by the village’s welcome sign near the Sixth Street bridge 
  • inspiHER Girls Leadership Foundation to support the inspiHER Girls Leadership Retreat for Lawrence County fifth- through eighth-grade girls at South Point Middle School 
  • Ironton aLive to help purchase storage containers that will be painted with Appalachian-themed murals at the children’s splash park 
  • Tri-State STEM + M Early College High School received two grants: (1) to purchase new computers and (2) to support the development of a student-led musical that highlights the positive impact of the arts on mental health 
  • William C. Lambert Military Museum and Archive to support the creation of a new exhibit, “The Korean War: Soldiers Stories of Lawrence County” 

  • Impact Prevention to help fund a youth-led weekend conference in which high school-aged youth serve as mentors and educators for fifth- and sixth-grade students 

  • RLB Ministries to support its Backpack Buddies program, which works with 17 local schools to provide weekly meal bags, emergency food boxes, clothing, coats, shoes and hygiene items 
  • Ironton in Bloom to help with construction of a small park that will enhance downtown revitalization efforts and preserve a piece of the city’s cultural history  
  • Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church to help finance a historic structure report, the first step in restoring and renovating the church, Ohio’s first Black church and the only surviving antebellum Black church in the state  
  • New Hope United Methodist Church to support its annual back-to-school giveaway of backpacks and school supplies in three of the county’s school districts 
  • Third and Center to help support the expansion of its Ironton Riverfront Beautification Project to include an interactive arts experience