Ann and Abe Effron Donor Advised Fund Grants

Twenty-three grants totaling $34,631 have been awarded from the Ann and Abe Effron Donor Advised Fund Grant program.  The committee reviewed 40 grant requests totaling $122,644.  Funding priority is given to organizations involved in arts, culture and education with special consideration being given to programs that would make facilities and events more available to young people and senior citizens. 

Fall 2009 Grant Awards

Abilities First, Inc.
$1,000

Funds for Abilities First's Community Access Training Fund (CAT Fund). The CAT Fund provides access to community-based cultural, educational, and recreational opportunities for the participants receiving services from their At Home Re-Hab Department and whose families also face financial challenges, often resulting from the extra resources needed to care for a person with disabilities.

Bardavon 1869 Opera House, Inc.
$1,000

Support for transportation for senior citizens to the Matinees & Music program in spring 2010.

Brandeis National Committee
$500

Funds to support the digitization of issues of "The Justice," Brandeis University's longest-running and primary student newspaper. 

Cappella Festiva, Inc.
$600

Support for scholarships and reduced-priced admissions to serve economically, underprivileged children and senior citizens in our community, both as singers and as audience members.

Childrens Media Project
$1,500

Support for five weekend workshops on Digital Storytelling and Bookmaking for elementary aged children in the city of Poughkeepsie.  This program also engages three high school aged youth as assistants in supporting the workshop.

Community Hebrew School of Dutchess County
$2,040

Funding for Special Education at the Community Hebrew School to make Hebrew education available to a larger number of children in the Dutchess County community.

Congregation Schomre Israel
$1,500

Funding to support a Klezmer Concert, free and open to the entire community.

Friends of Seniors of Dutchess County, Inc.
$1,300

Mileage reimbursement for volunteers transporting senior citizens.

Howland Public Library
$1,500

Support for "Rhythms of Black History," a live performance of music, vocals and spoken word.  The audience will hear the heart beat of Black American ancestors through the rhythms of professional percussionist Jeff Haynes, Spoken Word Artist Gha'il Rhodes Benjamin, and soulful Negro Spiritual vocalist Dean Bowman as they are taken on a journey from Africa to their own backyard.

Hudson River Housing, Inc.
$1,000

Support for enrichment programming that will be integrated into the services offered by River Haven in an effort to provide runaway, homeless and at-risk youth with opportunities to constructively use their leisure time, express themselves, develop new skills and build positive self-esteem and identity.

Iota Alpha Omega Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., Community Scholarship Fund, Inc.
$500

Funds to provide 12-15 Grade 2 students with enriching experiential learning experiences designed to enhance core skills of reading, writing and oral presentation.

Jewish Community Center of Dutchess County
$3,800

Support of the "Passport to the Jewish Arts," a series of programs which embrace the many different facets of the Jewish Arts.

Jewish Federation of Dutchess County
$5,000

General Support

LaGrange Association Library
$1,191

"Family Literacy Story Time" will be a weekly one hour program for families with young children residing in transitional housing at Hudson River Housing to come to the library to participate in the following activities: listening to stories, singing songs, and movement.

Mediation Center of Dutchess County, Inc.
$500

Support for The Teen Mediator Career Project Phase II, which is designed to teach teen mediators to apply their mediation skills to real cases and continue to learn about mediation as a career.

Mid-Hudson Children's Museum, Inc.
$1,000

Support to provide a basic level of funding to cover museum visits for students from underserved areas and provide free passes for visits by the students’ family.

Mill Street Loft, Inc.
$1,000

Support for tuition assistance and scholarships at the Dutchess Arts Camp for children from economically disadvantaged families and to children with special needs (such as ADHD, epilepsy and asthma).

Poughkeepsie Hadassah
$1,000

Support for Young Judaea summer camps and the Hadassah Medical Organization.

Saint Francis Health Care Foundation
$700

Support for the Music Together children's music program which provides meaningful learning experiences for 35 children - aged 2 months to age 2 1/2 years - who are enrolled in the Saint Francis Day Care and Special Needs Preschool Programs at the Saint Francis Hospital Children's Center (formerly the Martha Lawrence School).

The Poughkeepsie Farm Project
$1,500

Support for the Educational Programming Scholarship Fund which will enable children and youth to participate in hands-on learning activities at the Poughkeepsie Farm Project by supplementing the limited budgets of community organizations that work with young people.

The REAL Skills Network Inc.
$1,000

Support for the R.E.A.L. Skills Hip Hop Theater program.

United Way of Dutchess County, Inc.
$3,500

Funds for a professional Parent/Infant Educator (PIE) to meet with a parent and child to assess the child’s development in five areas (Communication, Gross Motor, Fine Motor, Social & Emotional, and Problem Solving) and offer counseling on issues that concern the parent.

Young Rhinebeck, Inc.
$2,000

Support for the Life, Learning & Language (LLL) program which provides tutoring/mentoring services for children from immigrant families. This after-school program, offered at the Chancellor Livingston Elementary School, recruits and trains students from Bard College and Rhinebeck High School to be volunteer tutors.