Safelite AutoGlass Foundation Awards $500,000 in 2015 Impact Grants to Area Non-profits

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Safelite AutoGlass Foundation, the 501(c)(3) giving arm of the nation’s largest vehicle glass repair and replacement company, has awarded $500,000 in Impact Grants to 20 separate Columbus-area non-profit groups, each receiving $25,000. This is the fifth year the Foundation has awarded its Impact Grants, and thanks to increased fundraising, donations have grown $100,000 over last year. The recipients of Safelite’s Fifth Annual Impact Grants are:

1. A Kid Again: With a mission to foster hope, happiness and healing for families raising kids with life threatening illnesses, A Kid Again will organize a “Zoombezi Bay Adventure” for 800 families.
2. American Red Cross: Annually, the Central Ohio Region has a need for over 170,000 units of blood and blood products. To meet this demand, the Red Cross sends out Collections Vans to more than 7,000 area blood drives annually. The Impact Grant will be applied toward replacing one of the three Collections Vans, which transports approximately 72,000 units of blood over the next six years, all while saving our organization thousands of dollars in fuel and maintenance costs annually.
3. Big Brothers Big Sisters: Aimed at providing children facing adversity with strong and enduring, professionally supported, one-to-one relationships that change their lives for the better forever, Big Brothers Big Sisters will use the grant to help sponsor a literacy-focused, school-based mentoring program at Highland Elementary. The pilot program matches mentors with at-risk students in order to improve reading proficiency, ultimately improving graduation rates.
4. Boys and Girls Clubs: Boys & Girls Clubs of Columbus will purchase a 12-passenger van to help transport members to and from educational fieldtrips, schools and Clubs, athletic practices and competitions, incentive trips, and college visits. With the continued membership growth and impact BGCC is having in Central Ohio, an additional vehicle is needed to ensure that members can receive the irreplaceable experience and exposure that fieldtrips and athletics can provide.
5. Buckeye Ranch: The Buckeye Ranch will purchase one 8-passenger van to be used primarily in three program areas of 1) residential treatment, 2) foster care and 3) day treatment also known as an integrative model of education and intensive mental health treatment for children and families at the Bonner Academies at Rosemont (elementary school students) and at Cross Creek (middle and high school student). This van would replace an existing van which is no longer safe, serviceable and needs to be retired. Approximately 900 children and youth in these three programs will benefit from transportation services.
6. CASA of Franklin County: Providing a powerful and consistent voice in court for all the innocent child victims of abuse and neglect, CASA will apply the grant to train and support an additional 25 Guardians Ad Litem (GALs), therefore reaching more children in the welfare system. GALs make objective recommendations to the court about where the children should live, if and when they should see their parents and siblings, and other crucial decisions about their well-being. ALs make at least monthly visits, speak with professionals involved with the family, attend meetings regarding the child's welfare and appear in court. With a CASA GAL, children are less likely to re-enter foster care, to have performance problems/ get expelled from school, to repeat a grade, and are less likely to commit child abuse, or family violence as an adult. 
7. Children’s Hunger Alliance: The Children’s Hunger Alliance will use the grant to increase student participation in the federal School Breakfast Program, which reimburses schools for serving healthy meals. Funding will also facilitate promotion of the Ohio School Breakfast Challenge, which Children’s Hunger Alliance launched last year in partnership with Ohio Action for Healthy Kids, the American Dairy Association-Mideast, and the Ohio School Nutrition Association. OSBC was developed as a continuation of the successful school breakfast expansion work achieved through the Healthy Kids, Healthy Schools initiative that CHA spearheaded beginning in 2009, and directs resources toward encouraging and incentivizing schools to pledge to increase and sustain school breakfast participation.
8. CHOICES for Victims of Domestic Violence: CHOICES offers counseling services and support groups both within its shelter and in the community. The Impact Grant will support the Client Assistance Fund so more families at the shelter have access to specialized solutions related to transportation, medical, work-related, or school-related needs.
9. Columbus Speech and Hearing: With the support of the Safelite Foundation Impact Grant, CSH will create an indoor therapy play space for clients, their families, and the community.  This unique space will be used as: 1) a naturalistic play environment, supporting the sensory-motor needs of young children, which will enhance speech-language therapy services, 2) a respite area for caregivers and siblings, and 3) a space to offer in-house Chatterbox-screening programs to the community.  
10. Community Shelter Board: The Impact Grant will help the Community Shelter Board, which strives to create collaborations, innovative solutions, and invest in quality programs to end homelessness in Columbus and Franklin County, to purchase a 12-passenger van to help transport families staying at The Van Buren Family Shelter to and from service appointments during their search for housing and jobs.
11. Directions for Youth and Families: The grant will allow Directions for Youth and Families to pay a portion of the cost for a large transportation van for their after-school program at Ohio Avenue Youth Center. The majority of the families in the area are not privileged to have transportation; therefore, attendance is often limited to children who reside within a short walking distance. The after-school program not only provides children with structured learning and enrichment activities, it gives children a safe and quiet place to complete homework, participate in recreational/fitness activities, and receive a healthy dinner meal, all of which are not always available in their home environment. Lastly, the van will allow for more children to participate in community service projects, promoting the development of empathy, self-competence and mastery of new skills, while teaching the importance of giving back to the community. 
12. Faith Mission: The largest provider of services to those experiencing homelessness in central Ohio, Faith Mission provides the only emergency food program in Franklin County serving three free meals a day to anyone who is hungry. The Impact Grant will sponsor the May 2016 Faith Mission Radio-thon airing on 104.9 FM The River, which is expected to increase results over last year by nearly 23 percent.
13. Furniture Bank: The Furniture Bank of Central Ohio is expanding its funding base through social enterprise by opening the “Furniture With A Heart” resale furniture store. The resale store will provide bargain shopping alternatives for low- and middle-income households, provide operating revenue to the Furniture Bank, and operate as a job training facility for unemployed and underemployed adults. The grant will help cover first-year operating expenses.
14. Habitat for Humanity: The MidOhio chapter will apply the funds toward seven repair projects within its Home Repair Program, designed to help low-income homeowners make necessary repairs to their homes to keep them safe.
15. Heinzerling Foundation: With a mission to provide a loving and nurturing environment that enriches the development, education and quality of life of individuals with severe or profound developmental disabilities the Heinzerling Foundation provides residential, medical, programming, dietary, and physical and occupational therapy services for individuals with severe or profound developmental disabilities. The Impact Grant will be used to replace a much needed whirlpool bathing system with lift trolley that makes transferring adult residents safer and more dignified.
16. Homeport Ohio: Homeport’s mission is to create and preserve healthy, stable and affordable communities. The grant will help support the continuation of an out-of-school time program operated in partnership by Homeport and the Boys & Girls Clubs of Columbus at Homeport's Pheasant Run apartment community. Through this program, Homeport is able to negate barriers to accessing quality out-of-school programming such as transportation, availability and cost. Through evidenced based and nationally tested programming, Homeport is able to effectively develop these youth in three core program areas of Academic Success, Character and Leadership, and Healthy Lifestyles.
17. LifeCare Alliance: LifeCare Alliance strives to lead the community in identifying and delivering health and nutrition services to meet the community’s changing needs. The Impact Grant will support the Meals on Wheels program to provide 3,571 client meals, especially the unfunded and growing population of those 60 years and older.
18. Lutheran Social Services: LSS operates a 13-county food pantry system – one of Ohio’s largest with five storefront pantries, three mobile pantries, and seven produce market sites. The Impact Grant will help launch the Athens Country Mobile Food Pantry, bringing nutritious food and fresh produce to roughly 150 families.
19. Mid-Ohio Food Bank: With a mission to end hunger one nourishing meal at a time and co-create a sustainable community where everyone thrives, Mid-Ohio Food Bank’s Urban Farms of Central Ohio (UFCO) is a social enterprise project with the goal of transforming vacant and underutilized sites in low-income neighborhoods into productive, sustainable urban farms that provide food insecure residents with increased access to free, fresh produce and encourage civic engagement. UFCO has successfully launched one urban farm where a portion of crops are sold to local restaurants, with revenue reinvested in the farm to help sustain operations, and offer volunteer and community engagement opportunities. The remaining portion of produce is provided at no cost to residents of the local community. The Impact Grant will help launch a similar new site, Wheatland Farm.
20. Ronald McDonald House Charities of Central Ohio: The RMHC provides a home away from home for families with seriously ill children receiving treatment in nearby hospitals. This includes 10 Continuing Care Suites, which are similar to a long-term stay hotel room with small kitchenettes. The Impact Grant will help replace appliances in these suites, which are nearing the end of their life-cycle.

Six of the twenty were first-time recipients of Safelite’s annual Impact Grant. Applications were reviewed by members of the Safelite AutoGlass^® Foundation, a volunteer committee, and selected by the breadth and depth of impact the grant would have on the local community.

Funding for the Impact Grants is made possible by the Foundation’s Annual Charity Golf Classic, which also funds a number of other donations made by the Foundation.

 “We feel humbled and blessed by each charitable organization we’re able to help through our Impact Grants,” said Safelite President and CEO Tom Feeney. “Giving back to our community is simply the right thing to do. We thank our partners and employees who have made it possible, and we look forward to the good work of our Impact Grant recipients.”

About The Safelite AutoGlass Foundation

Safelite AutoGlass – the nation’s leading provider of vehicle glass repair and replacement services – is committed to be a responsible member of the communities where we live and work. This includes those outside our doorstep and those across the world. As such the company supports employees’ charitable endeavors while also being a large fundraiser.

The Safelite AutoGlass Foundation was created in 2005 as the 501(c)(3) giving arm of the company aimed at supporting organizations that promote the health and well-being of families through monetary and in-kind contributions and volunteer hours.

The Safelite AutoGlass Foundation is set up as a separate entity, governed by company employees from the corporate offices and the field organization. The Foundation administers giving on behalf of Safelite^® and its employees, disbursing aid to approved causes or charities, and organizing many giving initiatives in communities where our associates live and work.

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