Cuba and Genesee libraries, GVCS, Wellsville Cemetery Project Benefit from ACAF’s March Grants

(April 2021) Genesee Library, Genesee Valley Central School, Cuba Circulating Library, and the Wellsville American Legion were approved for grants at the Allegany County Area Foundation’s (ACAF) March 24 meeting.

The Foundation’s Robert Christian Fund, which supports activities related to local history, will provide $429 to the American Legion Riders Post 702 for its efforts to clean up and restore Wellsville’s Nathaniel Johnson Cemetery. The 400 persons interred in this historic site include more than two dozen veterans, including some who served in the Civil War and the War of 1812.

ACAF’s Thomas F. and Laura L. Moogan Family Fund is supporting the Cuba Circulating Library’s Story Walk project with a $327 grant. This creative activity encourages literacy and fitness by posting pages from a children’s book along an accessible, walkable path.

The Genesee Library will use a $1000 grant to purchase a storage shed, necessitated by having to plan more outdoor activities, and to move indoor activities outside, in the interest of social distancing. This support came from ACAF’s Allegany Fund.

The Allegany Fund is also supporting Genesee Valley Central School’s plans to host a free Remote Area Medical (RAM) clinic with a $1500 grant (see www.ramusa.org for more information). Slated for October 2021, RAM has the potential to see 400-500 visitors; ACAF’s donation will help GVCS provide for the 200 or so volunteers that will staff the event.

‘Our local organizations are very proactive and flexible in identifying and meeting community needs. These grant requests are good examples of that approach’, notes ACAF Executive Director Bruce Campbell, ‘and we are really pleased to support them.’

The Allegany, Moogan, and Christian Funds are all endowed, such that they can help to fund activities like these annually.  If you’d like to know how to establish a fund, or to contribute to these or another existing fund, please contact ACAF executive director Bruce Campbell at 585-296-5616 or director@acafny.org

Founded in 1983, and with an endowment of $11.5M, the Allegany County Area Foundation supports the county through over 50 endowed scholarship and grant funds.