Cape Cod Foundation Distributes Over $2.7 Million and Announces Strategic Focus Grantees

The Cape Cod Foundation has announced that its total grant and scholarship distributions for 2015 exceeded $2.7 million, bringing its total distributions since inception to more than $55 million.

The $2.7 million figure for 2015 includes over $826,000 in scholarship support to local Cape Cod or Islands students, in partnership with the Foundation’s supporting organization, the Cape Cod Association. Distributions also include investment in local nonprofits that support all aspects of Cape Cod life: health and human services, education, arts and culture, the environment, and children, youth, and families.

As part of its annual grantmaking, The Cape Cod Foundation has also announced five Strategic Focus grants totaling $51,604 that were awarded in December.  Strategic Focus grants address strategic initiatives and long-range organizational capacity building. These particular grants seek to utilize resources in the most efficient and effective way to develop or implement long-term solutions to address documented organizational and/or community challenges.

“The Cape Cod Foundation is committed to increasing our discretionary dollars so that we can be more strategic and impactful with our grantmaking,” expressed Kristin O’Malley, Executive Director of The Cape Cod Foundation. “We are working hard to encourage strategic partnerships amongst our grantees and to leverage resources being invested by our donors and other funders. There are many exciting initiatives underway in our community, and we are proud that we can help to support them in an increasingly meaningful way.”

“It is truly exciting to be a part of the Foundation and to see how far it has come in a few short years,” stated Brooks Thayer, a member of the Foundation’s Grants Committee and former member of their Board of Directors.  “There is always so much need, and when we started, we were struggling to find a few thousand discretionary dollars to give away.  Now we are able to give enough to make a significant impact on the Cape’s needs and to make a real difference to the organizations we support.   Tomorrow it will be even better.”

The 2015 Strategic Focus grantees are:

Cape Cod Community College, $17,104 to support long-term, robust IT infrastructure that will enable a learning environment that meets the needs of today’s CCCC student population and increases the college’s ability to collaborate with regional high schools.  Enhancing CCCC’s IT infrastructure will enable the college to deliver interactive engineering and science courses to students at multiple high schools concurrently as the courses are being offered on campus.

Association to Preserve Cape Cod, $10,000 to support the “Cape Cod Restoration Coordination Center” (RCC) which will assist communities to implement successful ecological restoration projects by providing coordination, project management and technical assistance.  The RCC will promote holistic restoration that addresses multiple goals including restoration of important habitat, coastal resilience and water quality.  The RCC will serve the entire Cape and its 15 towns.

The Family Pantry of Cape Cod, $10,000 to support a new staff position to manage the Second Glance Thrift Boutique. Second Glance supports the Family Pantry with its mission to feed and clothe those in need on Cape Cod by providing a steady revenue stream over the past 8 years. The goal is to double the thrift shop revenue over the next 5 years and thereby reduce reliance on donations and grants by self-generating a larger revenue stream from the thrift shop.

Cape Symphony & Conservatory of Music & Arts, $7,500 to support distance learning and internet-based concert streaming.  By launching both projects within a similar timeframe, the Conservatory and Symphony will be able to utilize shared technologies and reduce overall project costs. The development and inclusion of concert streaming webcasts and distance learning will revolutionize CAE’s public access and will be a key component in the overall future of the organization.

HopeHealth, $7,000 to develop customized “Dementia Friendly Community” trainings. Free trainings developed and presented by Hope Dementia will help to educate Cape community employees looking for more specific, intensive dementia trainings related to their professions. Target professional segments will include members of law enforcement/police; firefighters; EMTs; Councils on Aging; bankers and others.