BAH’s Community Foundation distributes $239,000 in grants, May 13

News release Bay Area Hospital. Each year, the Bay Area Hospital Community Foundation gathers organizations together to award grants for those who are working in innovative, collaborative ways with other nonprofits or agencies to foster better health and quality of life for residents of Oregon’s South Coast. On May 11, 2016, 27 grants were handed out, totaling $239,000. While this was the 7th Annual awards luncheon, Bay Area Hospital CEO Paul Janke noted that grant funds have been more quietly distributed for many years prior. In fact, he said, they have actually awarded over $2 million dollars in the last ten years alone. “We think it is important that every year we provide some hard dollar support to organizations that, like Bay Area Hospital, are focused on really improving the health of the community and providing some safety net services that couldn’t otherwise be funded,” he said. A variety of projects received funds again this year, and several new ones. Two of the new applications received this year are one for a Pediatric Psychiatrist Crisis Response Team that will intercede in the early stages of a child’s mental behavioral emergency and one to fund children battling cancer to be able to forget about their illness for a week and go to summer camp for free at Camp Millennium near Elkton. Each spring, the Bay Area Hospital Community Foundation Advisory Committee meets to decide which grant applications get funded. John Sweet is one of the members of that committee. He said it is not an easy post for any of the members. “Oh, it’s very difficult for the board,” Sweet said. “They are all good applications, so picking the ones that we chose was a very difficult process – a very thoughtful process.” The application deadline for 2017 is March 1st. For more information about the Foundation, or to become a member with a tax-deductible gift, call Barbara Bauder at 541-269-8543.