The Greene County Community Foundation surpassed the $1.5 million mark in grants awarded at its 14th annual Awards Night Monday, March 25, at the Presbyterian Church in Jefferson.

Community Foundation board president Tori Riley spoke briefly about the Foundation’s history, noting that since the Foundation was formed in 2005, 86 persons have served on the board.

She highlighted the importance of continuing to build the Foundation’s permanent endowment, as that’s a way to increase the amount of grant funds available and decrease reliance on Grow Greene County for funds.

Riley also introduced Grow Greene County board members present and thanked them for continuing to allow the Community Foundation to be part of distributing grant funds in the county.

Foundation board member and past president Tim Heisterkamp assisted in presenting checks.

A total of $148,817 in grants was awarded as follows: Greene County Schools for Ram Reader program, $750; Elderserve/congregate meals for tables, insulated food carriers and kitchen equipment, $1,166; Rippey public library for computer/printer upgrade, $1,283; Paton-Churdan Early Learning Center for fencing for play area, $1,318; Rippey firefighters to replace radio headsets, $1,538; Greene County Extension and Outreach for kitchen update and new appliances, $1,575; Scranton Township trustees for cemetery signage, $2,100; Grand Junction fire and rescue to replace equipment, $2,160; Jefferson park and recreation department for a shade structure at the baby pool, $2,350, and to replace the fire alarm system at the Greene County Community Center, $6,560; and Jefferson Matters: Main Street Tower View Team for a bronze plaque in Arch Alley, $2,589.

Also, Grand Junction public library for digital preservation of Grand Junction newspapers, $3,000; Greene County Early Learning Center for comfort zones, $4,834; Heart of Iowa Habitat for Humanity for Helping Hands program, $5,000; Greene County Youth Athletic Association for repairs and equipment at the youth baseball/softball complex, $6,520; American Legion Post 198 for a veterans memorial marker at the Highland Township Cemetery, $6,927; city of Churdan for asphalt parking lot at Churdan Community Center, $12,000; Greene County Fair Foundation for improvements to the south horse barn, $14,750; Greene County Historical Society, ceiling repairs at the museum, $15,000; Greene County conservation board for an additional precast concrete latrine at Spring Lake Park campground, $16,000; Genesis Development for a recycling baler, $16,292; and Greene County Schools for the restoration of a Steinway grand piano, $20,000.

Greene County high school choir director Dave Heupel explained the 1970s grand piano has been unusable since he came to the district 20 years ago. He has been saving a portion of Dessert Concert proceeds for the past few years to put toward restoration of the instrument, but when voters approved construction of the new high school with a new auditorium, he decided to fast track fundraising.

The piano will be restored in Ankeny and will be kept there until the new auditorium is complete. It will be re-introduced to the public at a gala inaugural concert in the fall of 2020. The cost of the same model of Steinway grand piano new is close to $100,000, Heupel said.

After presenting the awards, Riley said, “We’re very happy to fund such a nice variety of projects that will benefit people all over the county. We’re grateful to Grow Greene County for allowing us to continue doing what we’ve been doing since 2005.”

Accepting grant awards were (front, from left) Deb McGinn for Tower View Team, Phyllis Bardole for the Rippey library, Sue Kellogg for the Grand Junction library, Dale Hanaman for the Rippey library, David John for the Greene County Historical Society, Megan and Harper Fouch for Greene County Youth Athletic Association, Linda Ross for Elderserve; and Ashley Coil for Genesis Development; and (back, from left) Dave Heupel for Greene County Schools, Morgan Fredrickson for the Paton-Churdan Early Learning Center, Jeff Lamoureux for Habitat for Humanity, Shari Minnehan for Greene County Extension, John Lonergan and Duane Mosher for American Legion Post 198, Joleen Killeen for the city of Churdan, Simeon Lang for Jefferson park and recreation, Al Robson for Scranton Township trustees, Emily Vander Wilt for JPRD, Julie Neal for Greene County Schools, Dan Towers for Greene County conservation board, Gene Hicks for the horse barn project, and Cherie Cerveny for the Greene County Early Learning Center. Not pictured is Pete Johnson of the Rippey fire department.