At its September 16 meeting, the Ohio Conference Board of Directors approved the following Make a Difference grants.  Grants are divided into three categories that deal with special needs for church leaders, churches and communities.

Grants to serve the needs of professional and lay church leaders were given to:

• First Congregational UCC, Rootstown  •  Salary for a part-time Christian Education Director  ($2,000)

• Orchard Hill UCC, Chillicothe  •  Salary subsidy for pastor ($1,000)

• First Congregational UCC, Berlin Heights • Training and support for a layperson to help ministry  ($500)

To address special needs of churches, grants were awarded to:

• Trinity UCC, Columbus • Campership assistance  ($1,000)

• Greenmont UCC, Kettering • Replace a freezer to store food for outreach  ($1,200)

• Community Church, Chesterland  •  Create outdoor ropes, meditation and team building course  ($800)

• St. Peters UCC, Apple Creek  •  Equipment for contemporary worship service ($700)

• Immanuel UCC, Kettlersville  •  Video projector, wireless microphone  ($700)

• St. Jacobs UCC, Republic  •  Two road signs identifying church ($500)

• Willard UCC, Akron  •  Restore stained glass windows ($500)

Special needs of communities were funded with grants to:

• Christ's Community UCC, Cincinnati  •  Purchase and maintain equipment and employ supervisor for "Clean Cut Initiative"  ($1,500)

• Washington UCC, Cincinnati  •  Workcamp for multicultural youth ($1,500)

• Heidelberg College, Tiffin  •  Help for Diversity Week Celebration ($500)

• Trotwood UCC, Trotwood  •  School supplies and food for children ($500)

• St. Peters UCC, Cincinnati  •  Equipment, printing, bus insurance for community outreach program  ($1,500)

• Brookwood Community Learning Center, Columbus  •  Purchase books for autistic students  ($525)

Committee members Elaine Mikesell, Robert Hawkins and Randy Gehres stress the difficulty of making grants when the amount available is so much less than the requests. 

Make A Difference grant funds come from the earnings of the Make A Difference endowment fund. The amount available each year is equal to 5% of a three-year rolling average of the endowment fund total. The criteria for the awards were established at the 1992 Ohio Conference Annual Meeting.