Nearly $47,000 awarded to support 23 projects and programs
NELSONVILLE, Ohio – The Nelsonville Community Foundation, with the support of its donors and in partnership with the Foundation for Appalachian Ohio (FAO) and the Osteopathic Heritage Foundation, has awarded $46,938 in 2025 grants to advance 23 projects and programs benefiting Nelsonville and the surrounding communities of Buchtel, Carbon Hill and Murray City.
“These grants are about more than funding,” said Bill L’Heureux, Nelsonville Community Foundation committee member. “They’re about investing in one another and our collective well-being. We’re deeply grateful to the donors and doers who are strengthening the quality of life for everyone in our communities.”
Nonprofits, schools and public organizations serving the Nelsonville area were invited to apply for grants to advance opportunities across five funding areas: 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 Nelsonville and the surrounding communities.
The 2025 grant recipients are:
- Athens Berean Community Players to replace the flats used in production sets
- Athens County Independent to support media coverage of York Township government meetings
- Bottoms Up Diaper Bank to purchase diapers for Nelsonville families served by the Athens County Pregnancy Resource Center
- Circle Round the Square to help fund an operations director for the 2026 arts and wellness summer program for youth in grades 5-12
- Hocking College to support a collaborative music video being created by the Hocking College Film Department and Stuart Opera House’s Afterschool Music Program
- Hocking College Foundation to purchase labels for the ready-to-eat meals the 740 Rescue Kitchen provides to individuals experiencing food insecurity
- The Libby Project to help purchase a generator for a mobile unit that will provide low- or no-cost vaccinations for dogs cared for by low-income families in the Nelsonville area
- Nelsonville Church of the Epiphany to support its free monthly community dinner and blessing box
- Nelsonville-York City School received 10 grants:
- To establish an emerging needs fund for the school district
- To fund students’ participation in the Ohio Association of Student Leaders summer workshop
- To provide suicide awareness/prevention T-shirts for sports events
- To support a program for sophomores that includes career assessments, one-on-one coaching and job shadowing experiences with local businesses and organizations
- To fund a Spanish immersion lunch at a Nelsonville restaurant for middle and high school students studying Spanish
- To fund paid internships for Nelsonville-York High School students
- To fund an immersive field trip to Passion Works Studios for middle school advanced art students
- To purchase a basketball shooting machine for the Nelsonville-York High School boys and girls basketball programs
- To provide free feminine hygiene products to elementary school students
- To support the founding of a Sunshine Committee through which student volunteers will plan and execute a monthly activity or treat for middle and high school faculty and staff
- Rural Action to introduce Nelsonville-York middle and high school students to potential environmental careers
- Simon Kenton Council of Scouting America to help fund participation in the Scouting program for economically disadvantaged youth in the Nelsonville area
- South East Ohio Hope Center to help cover rent for the Recovery Safe Space in Nelsonville
- WOUB Public Media to support Nelsonville-York High School students’ participation in the “Our Ohio High School Documentary Film Festival”
- York Township Volunteer Fire Department to purchase an inflatable education house to promote fire safety at schools and community events
The Nelsonville Community Foundation, one of FAO’s 15 affiliate foundation partners, was established in 2016 to develop and grow permanent resources that provide continuous investment in Nelsonville and the surrounding communities of Buchtel, Carbon Hill and Murray City. Each year, earnings from charitable giving to the Nelsonville Community Foundation’s endowment fund are reinvested in the Nelsonville area through grants that meet the communities’ greatest needs and most promising opportunities.