The Wood River Women’s Foundation is making Idaho nonprofits serving the Valley $348,000 richer in 2022.
“To our delight 2022 proved to be a record-breaking funding year for WRWF,” said Terri Bullock, WRWF president. “Our generous philanthropic-minded members contributed close to $350,000 for Wood River nonprofits. This is more than $38,000 above what we awarded our previous record high fund in 2020. We are honored to collectively support those doing the work to deliver services throughout our community, especially in a difficult pandemic-driven environment.”
Since its founding in 2005, WRWF has awarded 183 pooled grants surpassing $3 million to nonprofits throughout the Wood River Valley.
This year, the more than 325 members of the foundation funded nonprofits that address housing, education, outdoor initiatives, and emergency, social and therapeutic services. New in 2022 is WRWF’s pilot Focus Grant 2022 (FG22). FG22 is a special-purpose grant of up to $200,000 over a two-year period created to address a pressing need in the Wood River Valley. In March of 2021, WRWF members chose “Closing the Opportunity Gap in Education.” The WRWF FG22 will award up to $100,000 in 2022 and an additional grant of up to $100,000 in 2023.
WRWF members voted to award the first $100,000 for the creation of the Wood River Valley Early Learning Collaborative with the Idaho Association for the Education of Young Children. WRWF anticipates investing another $100,000 in year two of this transformational collaborative.
“Our grant-making process provides our members with a window into the important work being done by nonprofits in the Valley,” said Sandy McCullough, WRWF Grants co-chair. “We equip our members with the technical tools necessary to evaluate grant proposals and make informed decisions about where the pooled funds will be awarded and put to needed use.”
What follows is the list of 2022 Pooled Grant Recipients, grant titles and amounts awarded:
- ARCH Community Housing—Housing for Essential Workers $20,000
- Blaine County Charitable Fund—Emergency Assistance Grant Program $18,000
- Higher Ground Sun Valley—Higher Ground Cycling Program $18,275
- Idaho Trails Association—Youth Trail Program 2022 $6,400
- Ketchum Fire Department—Backcountry Rescue $20,000
- Kids Mountain Fund—Rotarippers Lease Package $6,500
- Men’s Second Chance Living—MSCL House Operations $20,000
- Swiftsure Equine Therapeutic Ranch—Safety Surround Wall $14,200
- The Advocates—Healthy Child Development Program $15,000
- The Alliance of Idaho—Support for Legal Services $20,000
- The Crisis Hotline—My Life Matters Enhancement $20,000
- The Hunger Coalition—The Value of Trust $20,000
- The Space Idaho—Forward Learning Scholars $18,900
- Wood River Fire & Rescue—Chain of Survival $18,526
The following hard-working organizations received smaller, unrestricted WRWF grants:
- Kiwanis Club of Hailey $2,400
- Syringa Mountain School $2,400
- The Nature Conservancy $2,400
- Wood River Land Trust $2,400
- The Community Library $2,500
Based in Ketchum, Idaho, WRWF is a collective of women who pool their contributions in order to achieve greater community impact while advancing their philanthropic skills. All women are welcome to join and participate in assessing the dozens of applications received each year, and vote on the award recipients.