The Legacy Foundation is pleased to announce awards totaling $150,000 to Cycle 30 Bright Ideas Community Enrichment Fund (BICEF) grant recipients. Since the first grant cycle in 2011, the Bright Ideas Community Enrichment Fund has awarded $4,312,978 to nonprofit organizations that serve Wapello County.
The most recent Wapello County nonprofit organizations to receive BICEF grants are:
- American Home Finding Association for the Wapello County Car Passenger Safety Program
- First Resources, Inc. for roof repair at their Gateway Drive location
- Friends of the Blakesburg Public Library for electrical upgrades as part of the Blakesburg Public Library renovation project
- Indian Hills Community College Development Corporation to support the Inspiring and Supporting College Enrollment among Wapello County’s High School Seniors initiative
- Iowa International Center to remove language barriers by funding a free 24/7 Interpretation Hotline
- Main Street Ottumwa to assist with the purchase of an electric utility vehicle for downtown maintenance
- Ottumwa Community Schools Foundation for the purchase of band and orchestra instruments
- Ottumwa Public Library Foundation to kick off the Dolly Parton Imagination Library program
- Southeast Iowa Sports Commission to create a marketing package for the Sports Complex Capital Campaign
- SIEDA to fund the Diaper Bank for the upcoming fiscal year
- Whatsoever You Do, Inc to begin phase 3 work at the SE Iowa Emergency Shelter
The Robert F. McCune Endowment was created to carry on the same tradition of compassion embodied by its namesake Robert McCune. The Robert F. McCune Endowment is a restricted endowment consisting of a single unified fund of resources where the investment income is dispersed to assist the cancer patients, facilities, and programs of the City of Ottumwa and Wapello County. Three awards were made, totaling $15,586, for the following projects:
- McCreery Cancer Center for ancillary equipment for their new CT Scanner
- McCreery Cancer Center for new waiting room and treatment room furniture
- Ottumwa Family YMCA for development of an adaptive yoga program for cancer patients
The Bright Ideas Community Enrichment Fund has three grant cycles each calendar year and awards up to $450,000 a year. The next online application cycle opens on September 15, 2021. McCune Endowment applications are accepted at any time.
