Western Mountains Fund

Country/folk singer-songwriter Dave Mallett (center) and his bandmates, Susan Ramsey and Michael Burd, performed before a full house at the South Solon Meeting House. Concert proceeds went toward the restoration of the meeting house, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and features fresco murals painted in the 1950s by Henry Varnum Poor, Ashley Bryan, and other artists associated with the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. The South Solon Historical Society received support from the Western Mountains Fund to put on the concert. Photo: Garrett Young Photography

Total grant dollars requested last cycle: $143,664
Total grant dollars awarded last cycle: $41,130
Percentage of proposals that received full funding: 9%
Percentage of proposals that received partial funding: 41%
Maximum grant award last cycle: $7,900
Average grant size last cycle: $3,739
Application deadlines: January 15, May 15

In 1992, the Western Mountains Fund was launched with a gift from the late H. King Cummings, who was an ardent, early supporter of the Maine Community Foundation. The fund’s advisory committee awarded initial grants to Athens Union Meeting House, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Kennebec Valley, and Bossov Ballet Theatre, among other nonprofits in the region. Since that time, the Western Mountains Committee has awarded more than $1,050,000 in grants.

The Maine Community Foundation manages the Western Mountains Fund, and local leaders, knowledgeable about their communities, help review grant applications and distribute funding.

Recent grants from the Western Mountains Fund

• Franklin County Children’s Task Force, Farmington, to provide supervised visitation and safe exchange locations for parents who need facilitated visitation with their children
  
• Sandy River Land Trust, Phillips, to build capacity for conservation and public access in Maine’s High Peaks Region
• Somerset County Association of Resource Providers, Skowhegan, for an educational program to help reduce teen pregnancy
• Western Maine Centers for Children, Carrabassett Valley, for support of the after school program

Complete list of 2010 Western Mountains Fund grants

Other ways MaineCF is serving the region

• In addition to the Western Mountains Fund, the foundation currently holds more than $2.6 million in assets dedicated to Franklin and Somerset Counties through donor-advised funds, scholarships, nonprofit endowments, field-of-interest funds, and designated funds to support specific organizations.
• Since 2002, the foundation has generated more than $111,000 in additional grant support for projects serving Western Mountains region from its network of donors responding to proposals submitted to the foundation's competitive grant programs
• Franklin County scholarships
• Somerset County scholarships

To make a donation or for more information about the Western Mountains Fund

Please contact the Maine Community Foundation by phone, toll-free, at (877) 700-6800, or by e-mail at grants@mainecf.org.

Somerset and Franklin County organizations interested in grants larger than $7,500 or funding for capital or equipment expenses are strongly encouraged to contact a member of the Western Mountains advisory committee or Peter Taylor, vice president of program development and grantmaking services, by e-mail or by phone, toll-free, at (877) 700-6800.