$180,000 presented to trio of Fannin non-profits
Impact100 Fannin lived up to its name Tuesday night, October 21, when it presented grants totaling $188,000 to a trio of non-profit organizations.
Impact100 President Carolyn Kibler opened the reception to award the grants by telling the crowd, “We can do so much more together than any one of us can do individually.”
The Fannin County chapter of the global organization is in its fourth year and with last week’s grants has presented over a half million dollars to organizations in Fannin County.
Kibler introduced this year’s recipients by saying all the applicants “were all so deserving” and represented “such a need in our community.”
$38,000 was then awarded to Mineral Springs Center, $50,000 to the Fannin County Sheriff’s Office Shop With A Cop program, and $100,000 to Fannin County Family Connection.
Robin Davenport, director of Mineral Springs, said the funds will be used to support the purchase of a van “to deliver long-term community services to adults with developmental disabilities.”
Eric Morris, present to accept the award with Davenport, said, “Old Betsy needs to go,” referring to the center’s current 2007 van. He exclaimed the new van will be named “Impact.”
Captain Darvin Couch of the Fannin County Sheriff’s Office expressed heartfelt appreciation for the grant. “Our needs are growing as more and more children come to us every year for help. This grant will touch the lives of so many children who desperately deserve a merry Christmas,” he said.
Jacqueline McKee, director of Family Connection, said the $100,000 the organization received will make The Opportunity Center,
an expansion of the current building, a reality.
The expansion will include a visitation area that DFACS will operate, a small conference room to support existing activities, and a private consultation area “to better serve our clients confidentially,” McKee said.
The consultation area will “allow our clients to feel more comfortable,” she said, especially as financial questions arise over various assistance programs.
“It will serve for generations to come,” McKee said of The Opportunity Center.
While Family Connection wants to start the expansion as soon as possible, McKee said they will “take the time to do it right.”
Even when it is complete, “We don’t want to stop growing to address the needs in our community,” she said.
McKee praised Impact100 for the grant award saying, “We’re so overwhelmed with gratitude. Without them, the fund raising would have taken years.”