News

The Parkersburg Area Community Foundation & Regional Affiliates (PACF) recently awarded $12,175 in grant support to six area nonprofit organizations serving Lewis County that are providing critical COVID-19 relief services. 

Organizations receiving support include:

• Jackson's Mill Volunteer Fire Department  -  $500 to purchase Tri Certified Rescue Gear to be worn during wildland fires, techincal rescue, and EMS calls.
• Jane Lew Volunteer Fire Department  -  $500 to support their operations and address revenue loss due to canceled fundrasing events.
• Lewis County Family Resource Network  -  $3,000 to support their Backpack Buddies program providing child-friendly, nutritious snack packs to school children in need.
• Lewis County Health Department  -  $3,000 to support COVID-19 response efforts, including staffing, purchase of personal protection gear, and public safety messaging.
• Lewis County Schools  -  $2,175 to provide parent training workshops on instructional devices and software for students.
• United Way of Lewis County  -  $3,000 to purchase food for their local food pantry.

Funding for these grants was made possible by a gift to the PACF from the statewide philanthropic organization, Philanthropy WV, which raised significant funds for COVID-19 relief through its Take 5 to Give 5 campaign in early May.  Additional funding made possible by the Larry D. and Margaret D. Brown Advised Fund, which the PACF administers.  

Lewis County leaders have recently been exploring a partnership with the PACF to extend community foundation services to Lewis County.  Community foundations play a vital role in building permanent charitable resources to improve communities. In challenging times, like the COVID-19 pandemic, community foundations play a leadership role in securing resources and addressing needs. “We look forward to continuing this conversation in the coming months. The pandemic has shown that it is more important than ever to ensure that our communities join together to ensure that we can meet today’s needs and prepare for tomorrow’s opportunities,” said the PACF’s Executive Director Judy Sjostedt Ritchie.

To date, the PACF has awarded more than $263,000 in COVID-19 emergency funds to help nonprofits continue their services and programs throughout the Foundation’s current eleven-county service area (Calhoun, Doddridge, Gilmer, Jackson, Mason, Pleasants, Ritchie, Roane, Wirt, and Wood counties in West Virginia, and Washington County, Ohio).  The opportunity to address COVID-19 needs in Lewis County extends this service to a broader geographic region. 

Agencies or individuals with questions about the PACF or the Lewis County COVID-19 relief grant program should contact the PACF at 304-428-4438.

While the Parkersburg Area Community Foundation & Regional Affiliates (PACF) is best known for partnering with local citizens to build permanent long-term charitable funds for the betterment our region, the PACF is also flexible and uniquely positioned to serve as a strong community partner in emergencies.  When the Governor’s “Stay at Home” order became effective for West Virginians on March 24, the PACF’s Board of Directors quickly made provisions for its existing Hunger Fund and Safety Net Fund to serve as emergency need funds for COVID-19 relief.  Despite low virus infection rates in our region, unemployment soared and the financial future for many area families was suddenly put in jeopardy.

The PACF’s leaders immediately began working with the area’s nonprofit community and other local funding organizations to determine how best to allocate resources among local needs and to raise additional funds to address community concerns.  With the PACF’s commitment to grant 100% of the proceeds raised back into the region, generous local citizens and area corporations responded with donations to boost the PACF’s Hunger and Safety Net Funds.

The PACF recently awarded $101,570 in its fourth round of COVID-19 pandemic response grants, bringing the total awarded to date to more than $263,868, a total which includes many PACF Donor Advised Fund grants. Several of the recent grants were awarded through partnership with the Sisters Health Foundation (noted with an *).  Agencies that received funding during the PACF’s fourth round of grants include:

• Boys and Girls Club of Parkersburg  -  $6,750 for operating support to address revenue loss and to assist with re-opening of summer programs for children and youth.*
• Calvary United Methodist Church  -  $1,000 to purchase food to stock their food pantry, awarded in partnership with Star Plastics.
• Camden Clark Medical Center  -  $5,000 to help purchase a Xenex Ultra-Violet disinfection system.
• Children's Home Society of Parkersburg  -  $7,500 of operating support to address increased demand for services and loss of fundraising revenue for their programs that address child welfare (foster care, adoption and emergency shelter services).  *
• Circles Campaign of the Mid-Ohio Valley, Inc.  -  $5,000 for operating support to address fundraising event revenue loss and to ensure the continuation of programs designed to help families transition out of poverty and $700 to provide food assistance to families in need. *
• Colonial House  -  $1,000 to purchase tablets to enable seniors to access information and communicate with families and to purchase art therapy supplies.
• Community Resources  -  $10,000 to support program to provide rent and mortgage assistance to individuals impacted by COVID-19.  *
• Epworth United Methodist Church  -  $700 to support its food pantry, awarded in partnership with Star Plastics.
• Habitat for Humanity of the Mid-Ohio Valley  - $7,500 of operating support to continue its work of providing safe housing and address revenue loss due to temporary closure of its ReStore.  *
• No Hunger Food Pantry  -  $1,700 for food pantry support awarded in partnership with the Star Plastics.
• Normantown Historical Community Center - $500 to stock its Gilmer County food pantry to meet increased demand.
• Racine United Methodist Church  -  $200 to aid its food pantry, awarded in partnership with Star Plastics.
• Recovery Point  -  $4,200 to assist with increased costs of hygiene products and cleaning services due to COVID-19.  *
• Roane County Committee on Aging Inc.  -  $3,420 for operating support to sustain satellite centers in Reedy and Amma, WV. *
• Rural Action  -  $2,500 to support social enterprises and local businesses as they re-start and/or adapt to safe operations due to COVID-19 impact. 
• Salvation Army of Washington County  -  $200 to its food pantry, awarded in partnership with Star Plastics.
• SW Resources  -  $7,500 of operating support to continue vocational rehabilitation and employment services to individuals with disabilities, meet increased demand for cleaning services, and address revenue loss.  *
• The Council of Senior Citizens of Gilmer County, Inc.   -  $7,500 in operating support to address increased demand for home meal deliveries and loss of revenue from canceled fundraising events.
• The Salvation Army of Parkersburg  -  $5,000 of operating support to address basic needs (food and shelter), provide emergency aid and address revenue loss from the temporary closing of the Family Store.  *
• Voices of Children - CASA  -  $4,000 of operating support to address increased demand for services for children who have been removed from their homes due to abuse and neglect.  *
• Westbrook  -  $10,000 to purchase of Naloxone to be distributed to regional Quick Response Teams and via Westbrook's Peer Expansion Program to address the increase in overdoses during the COVID 19 pandemic.  *
• Williamstown Welfare League  -  $200 to stock its food pantry, awarded in partnership with Star Plastics.
• Wirt County Committee on Aging & Family Services  -  $2,500 in operating support for senior nutrition programs.  *
• Wirt County Ministerial Alliance  -  $2,000 to purchase food for the Hope Shop Food Pantry to meet increased demand.
• Wood County Society  -  $5,000 in operating support to address loss of revenue and support the reopening of services for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.  *

The PACF is actively contacting nonprofits to assess COVID-19 impact on their communities and identifying ways to respond to these needs.  Agencies seeking assistance should contact the PACF at 304-428-4438 or by email to Marian Clowes.

Donations to support the PACF’s Hunger Fund and Safety Net Fund are tax-deductible.  To learn more about these funds and the work that the Foundation is doing to address COVID-19 in our region, visit www.pacfwv.com/COVID19.

Terri Ann (Marshall) Gard was a well-loved Parkersburg native who devoted her life to her family and faith.  She enjoyed traveling, going to the beach, volunteering, and spending time with her husband, children, and grandchildren. 

Gard retired as an Autism Mentor after working at Wood County Schools for more than fifteen years.  She brought to her role at the school many life experiences that helped her to connect and to communicate with her students.  Her patience and understanding made her not only a wonderful mother, but an exceptional mentor for youth with autism spectrum disorders. 

Terri Ann Gard passed away on May 27, 2019 following a courageous battle with cancer.  To honor Gard, her family established the Autism Whispers Fund in Memory of Terri Ann (Marshall) Gard at the Parkersburg Area Community Foundation (PACF) to forever provide financial assistance to programs supporting individuals with autism spectrum disorders in the Foundation’s service area, including programs within the Wood County School system.

“If everyone whose life Terri Ann Gard impacted would make a gift to her memorial fund, it would swiftly reach the point where it could begin making an annual award in her honor for a cause that she deeply cared about,” said PACF’s Development and Communications Officer, Julie Posey.

The fund created by Terri’s husband of more than forty-five years, Tim, and their children, Austin, Lance, and Sierra, is designed to continue her caring legacy and to honor her dedicated service to area youth with autism spectrum disorders.

Individuals who would like to make a tax-deductible donation to support this new fund are encouraged to send a check made payable to the PACF with “Autism Whispers” on the memo line to:  PACF, PO Box 1762, Parkersburg, WV 26102. Donations may also be made online.  Individuals wishing to learn more about this fund can call the Foundation at 304.428.4438.