Dana Duran was thrilled this week after learning the Boys and Girls Clubs of Northwest Colorado earned grants from the Yampa Valley Community Foundation that will support critical programs in Steamboat Springs and Craig.

“Our budget is a majority funded locally and (shows) that our community believes in us and stands behind the Boys and Girls Clubs, allowing us to support kids and provide after-school programs, and school days off in summer is critical,” said Duran, executive director of Boys and Girls Clubs of Northwest Colorado. “We couldn’t do what we do without this caring community.”

In partnership with Steamboat Ski & Resort Corp., community donors and donor-advised fund advisors, the Yampa Valley Community Foundation has awarded $531,913 to 74 nonprofit organizations during its 2022 Community Grant Cycle.

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Two of the organizations earned an impact grant, as well as a regular grant.

Duran said the Boys & Girls Clubs of Northwest Colorado, which earned one of the three impact grants, plus a regular grant for $7,500, started offering all-day programing for students in Craig this fall after the Moffat County School District moved to a four-day week.

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She said the organization will use the $15,000 impact grant to cover some of the costs of adding those programs. The organization also got another $7,500 grant from the community foundation that will be used for programming in Steamboat.

“We had started the programming before we received that grant,” Duran said. “That grant is going to help — it’s not going to cover everything — that it costs to run those Fridays. It was an unbudgeted expense adding the full-day Friday because our budget was set last November before the school district had approved that new calendar.”

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The impact grants were awarded to three organizations and account for $75,000 of the total amount awarded. The nonprofits receiving awards included the Boys & Girls Clubs of Northwest Colorado, the Piknik Theater for an amphitheater project and Steamboat Sports Barn.

Thirteen organizations were awarded $7,500 each — a total of $97,500 — for a multi-year general operating grant. These grantees are required to demonstrate evidence of solid financial position, consistent leadership and a history of thorough grant reporting for prior grants received.

“Our annual community grant cycle provides a lens into our valley’s current needs along with all the organizations poised to address them,” said Tim Wohlgenant, the Yampa Valley Community Foundation’s executive director. “It’s impressive to me that there are so many mission-driven nonprofits doing so much good work in our communities. Thanks to passionate philanthropists, we can support more than 70 of them in their efforts this year.”

The remaining $359,413 was awarded to 60 organizations in the form of one-year grants. Forty-eight of these grants will support general operating and 12 fund-specific programs that an organization intends to implement.

This year there a was 14% increase in the amount of money awarded compared to 2021, and the foundation was able to award money to 76 of the 79 (or 85%) of the applications received. Funding to support the grant cycle comes from donations from community members, a donor-advised fund, the foundation’s granting endowments, and partnership with the Steamboat Ski & Resort Corp.

Tracy Hiatt, donor engagement manager at the YVCF, said 100% of the money that is donated into community grants programming is doled out to the community. She said being able to help programs like the Boys & Girls Clubs of Northwest Colorado is rewarding.

“It feels good to be a part of doing something to give back to this community that we love so much,” Hiatt said. “It comes from a place of gratitude for the different people who donate to support this program and to the committee members who spend hours in this process reviewing to make sure that those who are awarded funding meet certain criteria and are very deserving, and will have an impact through their programs in our community.”