The Community Foundation of NCW has awarded a total of $1,759,157 in Covid relief since the Spring of 2020 for North Central Washington nonprofits. In November 2020, the foundation reported awarding $726,720 and since then has made final distributions of $1,032,437 in Covid relief grants.

“Once the pandemic hit, we retooled our grant programs to respond to the needs of the communities in our region” said Beth Stipe, the foundation’s Executive Director. “We were witnessing various impacts on nonprofits – from huge increases in services to closing up shops. We knew we had to mobilize our resources to ensure our communities could recover.”

The grant funds were distributed to 115 nonprofit organizations in Chelan, Douglas, and Okanogan counties through various grant programs at the Foundation, including the Helping Hands and Nonprofit Reemergence grants. Helping Hands grants were reviewed and awarded every month to help with immediate and critical safety-net needs such as food and housing, mental health, childcare, and most recently support for projects that address unfinished learning due to the pandemic for K-12 youth. The Reemergence grants were awarded quarterly and offered a maximum of $20,000 of flexible funding to help organizations remain viable through the pandemic.

“Our Board of Trustees and community grant committees were extremely dedicated these last couple of years as they spent many hours reviewing grant applications and making tough decisions about how to award funds in the most helpful and efficient ways for our community” said Claire Oatey, director of community grants. “While the community gave generously for Covid funding, there is never enough to award the full needs of each organization. These grants were intended to help make the greatest impact possible.”

The Covid Relief funds came from the Foundation’s unrestricted funds, gifts from hundreds of donors, and a partnership with Chelan County. “In a time when so much was unknown and unprecedented, the people of our NCW region came through to help one another” said Stipe. “They are our communities’ heroes and have made a huge impact in helping ensure our nonprofit partners can continue their missions that make life better for all in our region.”

To view the full list of grant awards, visit www.cfncw.org/covidrelief.