Annual investments in our people and communities

• Appalachian Literary Arts & Storytelling Festival to support the 2025 event, a two-day celebration of Appalachian storytelling culture hosted on Nelsonville’s Public Square
• Circle Round the Square to help fund the 2025 arts and wellness summer program for youth in grades 5-12
• Athens County Department of Job and Family Services to fund a Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) processor, vouchers and marketing materials for a Nelsonville Evening Farmers Market launching in summer 2025
• Chris Roell TBI Foundation Fund LLC to fund heath care speakers to talk about mental health, suicide prevention and traumatic brain injury
• City of Nelsonville to help fund a new fence at Nelson Commons
• Helping Hands of Southeast Ohio to support the Home Beautification and Safe at Home programs for seniors and individuals with disabilities in Nelsonville and the surrounding communities of Buchtel, Carbon Hill and Murray City
• Nelsonville-York City Schools received six grants: (1) to fund personal health supplies for impacted students; (2) to fund students’ participation in the Ohio Association of Student Leaders programming; (3) to provide stipends for high school students to dine at an Ohio University dining hall as part of an immersive learning experience; (4) to help fund an immersive field trip to Passion Works Studio for middle school art students; (5) to purchase supplies for cooking labs in food and fitness and food science classes; and (6) to purchase iPads for the middle and high school choir
• Nelsonville-York Youth League to enclose an unused shelter house at Polley Field and transform it into an all-season hitting/pitching facility for local youth
• Southeast Ohio History Center to support Invisible Ground in its work to produce two immersive historic markers for Nelsonville landmarks and a podcast episode
• Southeast Ohio Youth Mentoring to provide materials for the program that pairs college students with at-risk elementary students for one-on-one mentoring
• Stuart’s Opera House to support the Nelsonville-York Drama Club’s two performances

In addition, the Nelsonville Community Foundation, with funding from FAO, awarded two grants to support projects developed and implemented by local youth under age 18. The goal of this funding is to inspire young people to embrace roles as changemakers committed to creating strong, vibrant communities. Youth-led grants were awarded to:

• Appalachian Life Fellowship to support Trevor Boggs’ Eagle Scout project focused on improvements to Nelsonville’s Polley Field
• Nelsonville-York City Schools to support student-led planning for the 2025 prom

• Athens County Public Libraries to purchase electric-assisted bicycles for Nelsonville Public Library’s Book-a-Bike program 

• City of Nelsonville to help fund fencing and labor costs for a new Nelsonville Dog Park 

• Community Food Initiatives to offer workshops at community partner sites and support community members with container gardening 

• Nelsonville Area Chamber of Commerce to support the Follow the Star Brick Road: Nelsonville Brick Park Revitalization Project 

• Nelsonville-York Elementary School received three grants: (1) to purchase sensory tools for social-emotional learning, (2) to purchase iPads for second-grade classrooms and (3) to purchase iPads for the multiple disabilities classrooms 

• Nelsonville-York Middle and High School to support the set-up of a new restaurant at the school, operated by special education students 

• Nelsonville-York School District received three grants: (1) to purchase a desktop computer for K-12 classroom use and afterschool programming, (2) to purchase rock band instruments for use by the middle and high school choirs and by the community, and (3) to fund local dining out experiences for students in the high school business class 

• Stuart’s Opera House to help fund artist fees and production costs of the Summer Arts Camp for children ages 10-18 

• The iBELIEVE Foundation to fund the participation of Nelsonville-area youth in the 2024 iBELIEVE Youth Leadership Workshops 

• Circle Round the Square to fund three student interns who are stepping into leadership roles at the summer program and workshops 

• Nelsonville-York School District’s National Honor Society to purchase feminine hygiene products and support the needs of fellow students 

• 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 

• Athens County Children Services to support the Buckeye Bags Food Access Program 

• Nelsonville Food Cupboard Inc., to help fund the food pantry’s purchase of the facility it was leasing 

• Southeast Ohio Youth Mentoring to support the Buckeye Buddies: Youth Leadership in Nelsonville program 

• First Presbyterian Church of Nelsonville Ohio for Raise the Roof, a project to replace the church’s slate roof with a metal one 

• Athenian Berean Community Players for stage platforms 

• Nelsonville Rotary Club to support the Nelson Commons Refresh project that included repairs and improvements at the park shelter house and city pool house 

• Athenian Berean Community Players to purchase wireless microphones