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Nonprofit groups get some help

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By LOIS KINDLE

lkindle@tampatrib.com

Published: July 1, 2009

SUN CITY CENTER - Gifts showered down upon six nonprofit organizations in June from the coffers of the Community Foundation of Greater Sun City Center.

The foundation donated a total of $24,000 in cash and $10,000 in matching funds to the following organizations benefiting South Shore residents: the Apollo Beach Elementary School PTA; Lennard High FFA; Lennard High baseball program; Voices for Children; Society of St. Vincent de Paul; and Youth Environmental Services.

Thanks to a $5,000 gift from the foundation's George A. Lutz fund, students at Apollo Beach Elementary will get closer to getting a long-awaited pavilion cover. The money will be added to the school's other fundraising efforts to pay for a 88-by-120-foot metal canopy wired for electricity to cover a play court used for concerts, assemblies and physical education activities.

"We are thrilled to receive this generous grant from the Community Foundation of [Greater] Sun City Center," said Jamie Gerding, principal. "Their commitment to helping us build a covered play area for our students is greatly appreciated. We are very lucky to have the support of such a dedicated group of individuals."

Lennard High's baseball program received $2,500 from the Hadley and Helen Hill fund specifically for the purchase of a pitching machine to help players with their hitting.

And a $1,500 grant from the Dagny Brady fund will cover airfare, room and board for a team of five students in the Lennard FFA program, who will travel to Indianapolis to compete against more than 40 other teams in the two-day National FFA Contest in the fall. The students are Kole Peterson, Ryan Capps, Lucas Worley, Ashley Leonard and an alternate to be named.

In February, the team won the state competition in nursery and landscaping in St. Petersburg.

"We are very appreciative of the gift," said FFA teacher Erin Elsberry. "Our program gets no federal, state or county funding. The money will help tremendously."

The Society of St. Vincent de Paul will use the $6,000 it was awarded to help people in need through the Prince of Peace Catholic Church Conference in Sun City Center. The money will serve roughly 75 families with incomes of about $1,200 monthly in Sun City Center and Wimauma who need assistance with their rent and utilities. The average amount given is $675 for rent and $200 for electricity.

The final two gifts were matching grants, which means an equal amount of money must be raised by the recipients - Youth Environmental Services and Voices for Children - before the money is released. YES was awarded $4,000 as reimbursement for expenses related to its recent previously approved Summer Olympics for troubled teens. Voices for Children has been promised $15,000 in the fall to begin a volunteer recruiting program and advocacy program for children. The group works with the Hillsborough County Guardian ad Litem program.

Grants from the Community Foundation of Greater Sun City Center, which can range from $250 to $100,000, comes from interest earned on the foundation's estimated $21 million in principle.

Nonprofit groups interested in applying for the September grants cycle are encouraged to call (813) 633-6677. The foundation is on hiatus July and August.

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