Mission: The goal of the CELC-LLC Impact Fund is to extend the mission of Christ Lutheran Church into the world.

 

Vision: We recognize the inequality and suffering in our own community, and we establish the Fund to transform nonprofit programs and services to impact those in need and help raise people out of poverty or crisis in Athens County and Southeast Ohio.

 

A call for proposals was sent in late February 2024 to over 100 nonprofit and public-school organizations in the Athens Foundation’s and the Foundation for Appalachian Ohio’s databases. Eight Letters of Intent were received, and the Impact Giving Committee met in April and chose five organizations to move forward to complete full grant applications. All five groups submitted applications by the June 3rd deadline.

 

At its June 26th meeting, each of the five grant applications were reviewed and discussed in detail. The focus was whether each application met four criteria:

1.  Does the project raise people out of poverty/crisis or mitigate climate change?

2.  Does the project increase the service capacity in the long term?

3.  Is it a new program or project- not for ongoing operating costs?

4.  Is there a feasible strategy for meeting any ongoing costs?

 

In July, council approved the Impact Giving Committee’s recommendations for five grants and the ELCA Global tithe for the amounts listed below: 

1.  Alexander Inclusive Playground Project

$10,000.00

2.  Discovery Kitchen Community Expansion by Community Food Initiatives

$15,000.00

3.  The Next Step by Habitat for Humanity of SE Ohio

$20,000.00

4.  Tomcat Pride Packs by Tomcat Bridgebuilders

$13,000.00

5.  Athens Weekend Free Community Meal- Saturday Lunch By United Campus Ministry

$5,000.00

6.  Tithe for ELCA Global Missions

$6,300.00

TOTAL

$69,300.00

 

 

Many, many thanks go to the committee members for their careful reading, thoughtful considerations, and expertise: John Laughlin, John Molinaro, Ellen Peterson, Sue Righi, Mark Sunderman, Susan Urano, and Chris Snoddy (chair).