Safelite AutoGlass® Foundation Awards $300,000 in Impact Grants to Area Non-profits
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Safelite AutoGlass® Foundation, the 501(c)(3) giving arm of the nation’s largest vehicle glass repair and replacement company, has awarded $300,000 in Impact Grants to 12 separate Columbus-area non-profit groups, each receiving $25,000. This is the third year the Foundation has awarded its Impact Grants, and thanks to increased fundraising, donations have grown $100,000 over last year.
The recipients of Safelite’s Third Annual Impact Grants are:
1. Boys and Girls Clubs of Columbus: BGCC’s mission is to empower young people to reach their potential as productive, caring, and responsible citizens. Several of their programs include Techie Club, designed to teach members technology skills needed to advance their academic and professional success; the Music Makers program, which gives members the chance to compose and record music; and a creative Digital Arts program. The Impact Grant will allow them to purchase new technology to be used at a new Southside club next year.
2. Children’s Hunger Alliance, which aims to ensure all children are fed regular and nutritious meals and develop lifelong healthy eating habits, will use the grant to expand their Healthy Kids, Healthy Schools program. The grant will help increase breakfast participation at 20 schools, improve food quality at 10 schools, and introduce “Fuel Up to Play 60” at three schools.
3. City Year: As tutors and mentors, City Year Columbus corps members provide critically needed services to some of Columbus's most underserved children and youth. Wholly focused on fighting the national dropout crisis, City Year will use the Impact Grant to provide attendance monitoring, decrease behavioral incidents, and provide tutoring in English Language Arts or math for focus list students.
4. Community Shelter Board was created to end homelessness in Columbus and Franklin County through homelessness prevention initiatives, emergency shelters, housing services, and supportive housing. The Impact Grant will help to redesign the shelter system single adults and open a new shelter space by early summer 2014.
5. Flying Horse Farms is a 200-acre, medically safe, cost-free camping experience for children with serious illnesses. The Impact Grant will be used to support a second Hematology/Oncology summer residential camp in 2014 for 65 campers.
6. Furniture Bank: The mission of the Furniture Bank is to provide free furniture to central Ohio neighbors in need. The Impact Grant will provide 1,500 pieces of furniture (kitchen tables, chairs, dressers) to 111 families in the community.
7. LifeCare Alliance strives to lead the community in identifying and delivering health and nutrition services to meet the community’s changing needs. The Impact Grant will support the Meals on Wheels program to provide 3,571 client meals, especially the unfunded and growing population of those 60 years and older.
8. Lutheran Social Services will use the Impact Grant for installation costs of refrigeration equipment for the new Delaware County Food Pantry, promoting fresh produce donations.
9. Mid-Ohio FoodBank will use the Impact Grant to distribute 125,000 pounds of food and fresh produce to 7,200 people toward their mission of ending hunger one nourishing meal at a time.
10. See Kids Dream aims to develop educated, philanthropic, self-determined youth who become active citizens and leaders working together to make their communities exceptional places to live. The Impact Grant will support the creation and implementation of a new service learning program to develop critical thinking, problem solving, communication and leadership skills. Students will raise and donate $45,000 to central Ohio non-profit organizations in 2014.
11. St. Stephen’s Community Center strives to provide support to families, focusing on keeping them together as well as building strong healthy families. The Impact Grant will help implement the “Two Goals-One Strategy” project that will address the food insecurity epidemic in the Linden community by using innovative technology through “Aquaponics.”
12. YWCA Columbus is dedicated to eliminating racism, empowering women, and promoting peace, justice, freedom and dignity for all. The Impact Grant will support the YWCA Family Center operations, the only emergency shelter for homeless families in central Ohio.
Applications were reviewed by members of the Safelite AutoGlass® Foundation, a volunteer committee, and selected by the breadth and depth of impact the grant would have on the local community. The Foundation received 64 grant requests this year. Funding for the Impact Grants is provided by the Foundation’s www.safelite.com/about-safelite/press-releases/press-release/?previd=11253&prid=282&cHash=d6bd65bc2569afe7e3c40667b779d3ce, which also funds a number of other donations made by the Foundation.
Checks were recently presented to the grant recipients by Safelite® leaders along with representatives from Sika Corporation® and Pittsburgh Glass WorksTM, which are presenting sponsors of the Safelite AutoGlass® Charity Golf Classic; representatives from several of the founding sponsors including Adrian Steel, Asahi Glass Co., Installer Edge, Ron Foth Advertising, Embree Group; and event managing company HNS. Additional founding sponsors, not present, include Glass Medic and AutoTemp.
“We give back to charity because it’s simply the right thing to do. We believe in investing part of our profits into the betterment of mankind,” said Safelite® President and CEO Tom Feeney. “We are looking forward to seeing the good work of our Impact Grant recipients and to building a long-term supportive partnership.”
About The Safelite AutoGlass® Foundation
Safelite AutoGlass® – the nation’s leading provider of vehicle glass repair and replacement services – is committed to be a responsible member of the communities where we live and work. This includes those outside our doorstep and those across the world. As such the company supports employees’ charitable endeavors while also being a large fundraiser.
The Safelite AutoGlass® Foundation was created in 2005 as the 501(c)(3) giving arm of the company aimed at supporting organizations that promote the health and well-being of families through monetary and in-kind contributions and volunteer hours.
The Safelite AutoGlass® Foundation is set up as a separate entity, governed by company employees from the corporate offices and the field organization. The Foundation administers giving on behalf of Safelite® and its employees, disbursing aid to approved causes or charities, and organizing many giving initiatives in communities where our associates live and work.