Thirteen of the 15 organizations who submitted requests were awarded nearly $200,000 in competitive grants from the Middletown Community Foundation for the first quarter of 2015, according to T. Duane Gordon, MCF executive director.

He said most of the groups received about one-third of the funds they requested. The grants ranged from $500 to $50,000, Gordon said.

The grants were awarded by the foundation’s board of trustees. He said the next application deadline is March 1.

Cincinnati State Technical and Community College Foundation received $50,000 to support the creation of a welding lab in Middletown. Jean Manning, vice president of marketing, said the program will cost about $300,000 to establish, and Cincinnati State will seek other grants to fund the project. She said the college hopes to have the welding lab operational by the fall of 2015.

There are 743 welders employed in the area, according to research from Cincinnati State and 168 of them are near retirement age.

“It”s a high demand field,” Manning said.

Berachah Church received a grant for $25,000 to assist funding Elley’s Hope Playground Park, a handicapped-accessible area, that will be built near Lefferson Park, said Clark Helvey, pastor of outreach and missions. He said the project is expected to cost about $200,000, meaning the church received 12.5 percent of its needed funding.

“I was so excited I could just jump,” Helvey said.

Not only does the grant help substantially with funding, but it also gives the church’s project instant credibility with other potential donors, Helvey said.

“When we show them the Middletown Community Foundation is sinking in $25,000, that shows it’s a worthy project,” he said.

Helvey said church volunteers will break ground on the playground on May 3, what is being billed as “Purple Out Day,” and the ribbon cutting is scheduled for Sept. 20. He said work crews will be on site five weekends from May through September.

GRANTS AWARDED

These local organizations received grants from the Middletown Community Foundation:

$50,000: Cincinnati State Technical and Community College Foundation to support creation of a welding lab in Middletown

$30,000: Butler County Education Service Center for weekly Summer Bridge home visitation program for Head Start students entering kindergarten

$25,000: Atrium Medical Center Foundation to support the purchase of a mobile mammography unit

$25,000: Berachah Baptist Church to support a handicapped-accessible playground to be built at Lefferson Park in Middletown

$25,000: Community Building Institute to support an after-school education enrichment and recreation program

$10,000: Franklin Fire Department to purchase an electric heart monitor for a paramedic unit

$5,000: Middletown City Schools to support ACT preparation for 30-50 juniors

$5,000: Safe Haven Farms in Madison to purchase a new lawnmower at the home for adults with autism

$5,000: St. Vincent de Paul to support its Middletown food pantry

$4,500: 3R Development for an after-school enrichment program

$4,500: Middletown Area’s Neediest Youth (MANY) to purchase clothing for underprivileged children in Middletown, Madison, Monroe, Edgewood, John XXIII/Bishop Fenwick, and Middletown Christian schools

$2,000: Great Miami Valley YMCA for its downtown Middletown branch’s basketball league and swim lessons

$500: Links Theological Seminary to sponsor the 2015 Derrico community Easter egg hunt at the Sonny Hill Community Center

SOURCE: Middletown Community Foundation