The Foundation of Appalachian Ohio awarded its largest grant to date, for $72,000, to ATCO, Inc., which is an organization that provides employment and job training for people with disabilities in Athens County.
The grant was given to Passion Works, which is housed within ATCO, Inc. The money will be distributed over a three-year period to support new product initiatives including a greeting card line.
We are very excited to be working with the foundation
said Joyce Frank, Passion Works studio coordinator.
The grant money will be used to introduce some new designs and make them available for other non-profits to use them as fundraising tools, said Patty Mitchell, Passion Works director. Passion works has sold printed cards since 2000.
The goal is to make it easier for schools to use the cards for fundraisers.
We are also going to design lesson plans so students can learn about disabilities and the arts Mitchell said.
The foundation supports economic development in the Appalachian region. It has awarded more than $500,000 in grants to organizations in Appalachian Ohio since 1999.
The foundation was impressed by the creativity and entrepreneurialism of Passion Works, said Leslie Lilly, foundation president and chief executive officer.
Passion Works is an outstanding example of what people can do when the right people and the right ideas come along with the skill and the right passion to make something happen Lilly said. The organization has done an outstanding job developing economic opportunities for the region. Their approach to creating job opportunities...is very entrepreneurial
and therefore very applicable.
In Southeast Ohio it is difficult to find funding for projects because many programs are run through large industries. The foundation creates a funnel so the money people donate to it can be distributed to our region, Mitchell said.
I think it's hard for anyone to understand how much money this is and what we can do with it
and how it's going to help our program. There was a nice celebration in the studio when we received that money
Mitchell said.
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Megan Cotten
