Recipients of CHCF grants announced

Posted 7/1/13

by Wesley Ratko

A list of 2013 recipients of grant money from the Chestnut Hill Community Fund was approved by the board of the Chestnut Hill Community Association at its June 27 meeting.

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Recipients of CHCF grants announced

Posted

by Wesley Ratko

A list of 2013 recipients of grant money from the Chestnut Hill Community Fund was approved by the board of the Chestnut Hill Community Association at its June 27 meeting.

Out of 35 applicants, only five received the total amount requested, while nine received no funding. The remaining 21 organizations received only a portion of the amount requested.

“We wanted to help the members of our community as best we could with the limited resources available to us,” said board member Laura Lucas, who presented the list to the board.

While supportive of the distribution list, board member Richard Snowden called for more specific guidelines that encourage support of Chestnut Hill-based groups.

“In my opinion, I’d like to see more organizations in 19118,” Snowden said. “I think we should be funding underfunded organizations that don’t have other options.” He referred specifically to the Center for Enrichment (formerly the Senior Center).

Lucas also said that there needs to be a bigger push for contributions to the community fund from board members.

Board member Jean Wedgewood took exception to that, saying she was among the board members who had not given to the fund because of her disagreement with some of the recipients of CHCF funds.

“I saw money going to places that are lucrative – I saw no need for us to give to those kinds of organizations,” she said. She added that she does give generously to local organizations with a more philanthropic focus.

CHBA interlocking member and Chestnut Hill Hospital CEO John Cacciamani referred to his own experience sitting on the board of a large trust and suggested that the process would be easier if the constraints about giving were better fleshed out before the proposals come before the board.

Once discussion was closed, the board approved unanimously the distribution of CHCF funds for 2013.

Recipients

Allens Lane Art Center, $500; CHCA-Awards, $1,700; CHCA-Circle of Trees, $763; CHCA-DRC and LUPZ Minutes, $2,040; CHCA-Pastorius Park Concert Series, $16,500; CHCA Volunteer Memorial Garden, $300; Chestnut Hill Book Festival, $500; Chestnut Hill Center for Enrichment, $12,500; Chestnut Hill Garden District Fund, $500; Chestnut Hill Historical Society, $1,000; Chestnut Hill Meals on Wheels, $6,000; Chestnut Hill Youth Sports Club, $3,000;

Children's Park in Chestnut Hill, $3,500; Crefeld School (community service field trip), $250; The Crossing (concerts at Ches. Pres. Church), $3,000; Fresh Artists, $4,000; Friends of the Wissahickon, $2,200; John S. Jenks School/Friends of Jenks, $2,000; Keystone Hospice, $5,000; Mt. Airy Learning Tree, $2,500; Musehouse: A Center for Literary Arts, $500; Northwest Victim Services, $2,000. St. Paul's Episcopal Church, $1,500; Teenagers, Inc., $14,000; Tempesta di Mare, $1,500; Woodmere Art Museum, $2,500.

Challenge Grants

Center on the Hill/Time4Time Community Exchange, $6,000; Friends of Jenks/The Crossing Choir, $8,000; Mt. Airy Art Garage/Mt. Airy BID, $2,774.

Greenspace Initiative Grants

The Fund Drive Committee has approved the allocation of money from the Greenspace Initiative to: The Chestnut Hill Friends Meeting, $2,000; Friends of the Wyndmoor Train Station, $1,500; the St. Martin's Station Committee, $1,000, and The Stagecrafters, $1,700.

Other business

• Vice-president for Operations Mike Chowmentowski, sitting in for president Brien Tilley this month, opened the meeting by asking for a moment of silence for Lloyd Wells, CHCA president from 1968 to 1969 and a pioneer of many of the current activities of the CHCA, who died May 24.

• The board approved unanimously the nominations of Deb Feraro to the Traffic, Transportation, and Parking Committee, and John Romano to the Streetscape Committee. Feraro is a senior traffic engineer with the firm of Pennoni and Associates, and Romano is an architect.

• The board approved unanimously a request for support of a zoning variance from the city that would allow for the construction of an addition to a residence at 7516 McCallum St. Larry McEwen presented the matter to the board, having reviewed it as a co-chair for the DRC. The board had no questions for either McEwen or Sam Blake, the applicant’s representative.

• The variance to build the addition is necessary to allow for construction on land that the city zoning code has determined is too steep to build on.

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