In 2020, the trustees of the Ballantine Family Fund awarded $115,000 in Core Value grants in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Southwest Colorado in addition to $217,590 awarded through its quarterly grant application process.
The unsolicited Core Value grants are designated annually for a significant impact in a particular area of need, as identified by trustees. Last year, that area of need was food security, necessitated by public health safety measures that restricted employment income for thousands of people across the region, resulting in increased demand at area food pantries.
Food security organizations across Southwest Colorado received food purchased with Ballantine funds and coordinated through the Community Foundation’s Community Emergency Relief Fund.
The infusion of Ballantine funds, leveraged with other CERF donations from across the region, increased the scale of philanthropic purchasing options – allowing more food to be provided to more organizations.
“The Ballantine trustees understood the depth of the hunger issues across Southwest Colorado and wanted to make an impactful difference,” said Briggen Wrinkle, executive director of the Community Foundation Serving Southwest Colorado and grants manager for the Ballantine Family Fund, in a news release.
“Leveraging the Ballantine Core Value grants with the donations of individuals and governmental agencies across the region allowed us to purchase more food collaboratively than each pantry could have purchased on its own. The end result is fewer hungry people, and that is certainly the goal of this type of responsive philanthropy,” Wrinkle said.
In addition to Core Value grants, trustees awarded $217,590 through quarterly grant applications in 2020 to 97 nonprofit organizations in Southwest Colorado. The average grant size was $2,243.
By sector, the Ballantine Family Fund awarded:
$8,000 to animal protection, 4% of total grants.$51,500 to arts and culture, 24% of total grants.$36,720 to education, 17% of total grants.$20,000 to environment, 9% of total grants.$70,170 to human services, 32% of total grants.$18,500 to youths, 9% of total grants.$12,700 to other categories, 6% of total grants.By county, the Ballantine Family Fund awarded:
$27,800 to Archuleta County, 13% of total grants.$2,500 to Dolores County, 1% of total grants.$105,290 to La Plata County, 48% of total grants.$58,000 to Montezuma County, 27% of total grants.$3,500 to San Juan County, 2% of total grants.$20,500 to entities in other counties that support Southwest Colorado, but are not physically located in the geographic region, 9% of total grants.The traditional quarterly Ballantine grants and Core Value grants combine to create a $332,590 investment in nonprofits serving Southwest Colorado.
“Some of the most rural parts of our region – Archuleta, Montezuma and Dolores counties – saw increased support from the generosity of the Ballantine Family Fund in 2020,” Wrinkle said. “The trustees provided extensive resources to areas hardest hit by the pandemic.”
Nonprofit organizations that want to apply to the Ballantine Family Fund for support can learn more at ballantinefamilyfund.com.
The fund was founded in 1957 by Morley and Arthur Ballantine, former owners of The Durango Herald, and is focused on improving the human condition in Southwest Colorado. Richard G. Ballantine is president of the fund and chairman of the board of Ballantine Communications Inc., the parent company of Herald.
For more information, visit www.ballantinefamilyfund.com.
parmijo@durangoherald.com
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