Next week, the Bay Area Hospital Community Foundation will honor 33 programs and organizations that have demonstrated their dedication to improving health and quality of life on the South Coast. Every year, the foundation gives financial gifts to agencies that advance the hospital’s mission, but this is a record breaking year for community grants. On May 11, the Bay Area Hospital Community Foundation will hand out $467,728. This number far exceeds totals from past years, as Bay Area Hospital is making its first installment toward the future Southwestern Oregon Community College Health and Science Technology Building. Last spring, the hospital pledged to invest a total of $1 million toward the building, to be paid over four years. The new facility will make a career in healthcare more attainable for students in our community by replacing outdated training spaces, introducing new technology into the classroom, and allowing SOCC to accept more applicants into their nursing program. While Southwestern Oregon Community College is receiving the largest sum this year, each of 2017 grantees are doing impressive, innovative work to promote healthy living in our area. This year’s recipients are: AYA; Bay Area Rotary Club; Bob Belloni Ranch, Inc.; Boys & Girls Club of Southwestern Oregon; Camp Millennium; Charleston Rural Fire Department; City of Myrtle Point- Ambulance; Coos Bay Downtown Association; Coos Bay Public Schools- ARK Program; Coos County Area Transit District- CCAT; Coos County Friends of Public Health; Coos History Museum; Drug Disposal Coalition; Healing Sounds Project- Seven Fires Foundation; Knights of Columbus; Mental Health Association of Southwestern Oregon (SHAMA); Mingus Park Pool; Nancy Devereux Center; North Bend School Foundation; North Bend Senior Center; Oregon Coast Community Action/ CASA of Coos County; Pediatric Psychiatrist Crisis Response Team; Ready to Smile; SMART; South Coast Business Employment (CNA Program); South Coast Family Harbor; South Coast Hospice & Palliative Care; Southwest Oregon Airport; Southwestern Oregon Community College – Health and Science Technology Building; Southwestern Oregon Veterans Outreach; Star of Hope; THE House; Tioga Research- Reach Out and Read. The grants will be awarded at an invitation only luncheon on Thursday May 11, 12:00 p.m. at the Coos History Museum. For more information, contact Barbara Bauder at (541) 269-8543 or send her an email at Barbara.bauder@bayareahospital.org.
