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NISKAYUNA — The Niskayuna Community Foundation has awarded $485,000 in grants to Niskayuna nonprofits in the last two decades and the organization has now opened up $35,000 in grant funding for 2023.
Applications are due on April 15 for grants ranging from $2,000 to $10,000 for local organizations that have made life better for residents and district students in the town.
The foundation has distributed grants to more than 100 different organizations since 2000, including groups focused on senior safety, food insecurity and children in crisis among those recipients.
“NCF is mission-driven to invest in local solutions,” declared Mike Mullaney, chair of the foundation’s grant distribution committee, in a statement. “We’re proud to award grants to programs that address identified needs and help lift up our community. We encourage organizations that serve our residents to apply for grant funding, and we’re especially eager to hear from new applicants that need resources for important programs.”
Last year, the group awarded a grant to Nisky NOW (Nutrition on Weekends) that allowed the community food program to purchase a freezer which permitted the nonprofit to offer meat and frozen fruits and vegetables to food insecure families for the first time.
“As a Nisky NOW board, we were looking to expand our food and nutrition offerings to families and we found that with the current price of groceries that families were having a harder time,” Nisky NOW President Jessica Brennan said. “With those two things together, we saw that the perishable items in the food pantry were sometimes less expensive than the non-perishable ones. So, we started brainstorming ideas to have a freezer option. The first support we had for funding was the Niskayuna Community Foundation.”
Brennan, who also serves on the Niskayuna Town Board, noted that NCF approved the Nisky NOW grant in time for the organization to acquire its freezer last summer.
“A big part of our program is that we try to make every dollar go towards the food,” Brennan said. “A bigger priced item like this freezer, it was really incredible that they were seeing the need in the community and saw how many lives it would be touching in Niskayuna. That’s part of the grant process — they look to see how many people would be affected by the grant.”
Grants are awarded in the fields of health and human services, arts and culture and community development, with organizations invited to apply at niskayunacf.org/apply-for-grants.html.
Applicants will be notified of the status of their applications in June or July.
Categories: -News-, News, Schenectady County, Your Niskayuna
