The Flagstaff Community Foundation completed its annual grant-making process Friday, Nov. 6, by handing over checks totaling more than $600,000 to 100 local nonprofit organizations.

This year, 117 nonprofits applied for funding in the areas of Health Care, Victim Services, Youth, Social Services, Environmental Education, Music Education and Arts & Culture. Of the 117 applicants, 100 were funded and 43 were fully funded at the amount they requested, according to a FCF press release.

Despite the most challenging economy since the Great Depression, foundation volunteers, donors and staff, along with nine collaborating groups — the 1701 Fund, the Elliott Family Fund, the Ernest and Evelyn Chilson Foundation, Flagstaff Medical Center, Flagstaff P-12 Educational Fund, Forest Highlands Foundation, GeoFund, McClanahan Family Fund and the Stone Soup Fund — increased the funding from $425,000 last year, to slightly more than $600,00 this year.

"In a year when most nonprofit organizations are experiencing the effects of the financial downturn, we were able to take advantage of the power of endowed funds, along with the commitment and generosity of our collaborators and donors," Ken Lamm, grants chair, told guests during the presentation. "This year, we stand on the shoulders of visionaries in our community who established this foundation knowing that funding to nonprofits would be provided even in difficult times like we are experiencing now."

Approximately 160 people attended the presentation, including representatives from the City Council, collaborators, Grants Committee members and donors. Prior to the event, musicians from the Flagstaff Symphony Orchestra welcomed the attendees as they entered the main gallery of the Coconino Center of the Arts.

Founded in 1987 as an affiliate of the Arizona Community Foundations, the Flagstaff Community Foundation is a permanent philanthropic endowment which currently manages 49 funds, totaling more than $12 million in assets.

FCF secures, manages and allocates donors' gifts for charitable purposes in the Flagstaff area while working to improve the quality of life for local residents, according to FCF sources.

For more information about FCF, call Dawn Kolb at 526-1956.

Recipients of FCF grants for 2009 are as follows:

Pickard Arts & Culture Fund: Alliance for Audience - $1,000; Artist's Coalition of Flagstaff - $3,500; Canyon Movement Company - $3,500; Dry Creek Arts Fellowship - $5,500; Flagstaff Cultural Partners- $5,016; Flagstaff Public Library, Main Branch (Learning Lectures Series) - $1,000; Heritage Square Trust- $5,000; Masterpiece Art Program of Flagstaff- $4,500; NAU Art Museum- $2,000; NAU Dept. of Theatre- $5,500; and NORAZ Poets- $7,000.

Music Education Fund: Arizona Opera Company- $1,000; Children's Chorale of Flagstaff- $2,000; Coconino County Schools- $5,500; Flagstaff Community Band- $3,000; Flagstaff Friends of Traditional Music- $6,000; Flagstaff Light Opera Co. - $1,000; Flagstaff Symphony Orchestra- $10,000; Grand Canyon Guitar Society- $2,000; Marshall Magnet Elementary School- $4,000; Master Chorale of Flagstaff- $1,000; NAU School of Music- $2,000; and Northern Arizona Celtic Heritage Society- $628.

Flagstaff Education Fund: Alliance for Children's Early Success- $1,000; Arboretum at Flagstaff- $2,000; Arizona's Children Assoc. - $1,000; Assoc. for Supportive Child Care- $8,868; Flagstaff High School Kids Center- $8,300; Flagstaff Public Library, East Branch (computer software) - $9,498; Flagstaff Public Library, Main Branch Bookmobile - $3,800; Junior Achievement of Arizona - $1,000; Literacy Volunteers - $10,000; NAU Writing Project - $7,502; Thomas School- $5,000; and U of A Foundation - $5,500.

Flagstaff Community Environmental Education & Conservation Fund: ANHA, Elden Pueblo- $5,800; Arizona Ethnobotanical Research Assoc. - $15,000; Coconino Community College Foundation - $7,500; Diablo Trust - $1,000; Flagstaff Festival of Science - $2,000; Flagstaff Foodlink - $4,100; NAU Centennial Forest - $3,400; NAU Program in Community, Culture & Environment - $1,000; and Willow Bend Environmental Education Center - $3,000.

Flagstaff Community Foundation Youth Fund: Big Brothers Big Sisters of Flagstaff - $4,000; Flagstaff Biking Organization - $1,000; Flagstaff Ski Club - $3,000; Flagstaff Snow Sharks - $2,000; Friends of Camp Colton - $5,000; Girl Scouts of America, Arizona Cactus Pine - $7,000; Girls on the Run - $10,000; Grand Canyon Youth - $4,000; Integrated Family Court - $5,500; Museum of Northern Arizona - $4,000; and

Teen Challenge - $1,000.

Flagstaff Community Health Care Fund: Alzheimer's Assoc., Desert Southwest Chapter - $5,000; American Cancer Society - $3,000; CC Health Dept—Reproductive Health - $8,000; CC Juvenile Detention Center - $10,000; Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder of Northern Arizona (FASDNA) - $10,000; Flagstaff Medical Center-Childbirth Dept. - $10,000; Further Shore - $3,290; Hozhoni Foundation - $10,000; Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation - $5,000; Northern Arizona Mental Illness (NAMI) - $5,000; North Country Healthcare - $3,200; Northland Hospice & Palliative Care - $20,000;

Planned Parenthood - $7,500; and Ronald McDonald House of Phoenix - $10,000.

Victim Services Fund: BOTHANDS - $10,000; Childhelp - $10,000; Northland Family Help Center - $10,000; and Victim Witness Services - $10,000.

Flagstaff Social Services Fund: Accessible Outings - $2,500; Assistance League of Flagstaff - $10,000; Catholic Charities Community Services - $10,000; Civitan Foundation - $4,000; Coconino County Community Services (Basic Business Empowerment) - $10,000; Coconino County Community Services (Flagstaff Project Connect) - $2,000; Coconino County Senior Services - $5,000; DNA-People's Legal Services - $2,000; Flagstaff Family Food Center - $10,000; Flagstaff Shelter Services - $10,000; The Guidance Center - $8,000; Habitat for Humanity - $1,500; La Plaza Vieja Neighborhood Assoc. - $1,000; NAU Gerontology Institute - $7,000; Northern Arizona Food Bank - $7,100; Northern Arizona Interfaith Council - $1,000; Open Inn - $8,000;

Parenting Arizona - $10,000; Quality Connections - $1,000; Southside Community Assoc. - $3,000; Special Olympics Arizona - $3,038; St. Mary's Food Bank Alliance - $10,000; Sun Sounds of Arizona - $3,000; Sunnyside Neighborhood Assoc. - $10,000;

and Sunshine Rescue Mission, Hope Cottage - $10,000.

Flagstaff Community Fund: Paw Placement - $3,473; and Second Chance Center for Animals - $1,000.

ACF Funding for Flagstaff Non-Profits: BOTHANDS - $15,000; Children's Chorale of Flagstaff - $7,000; NAU Gerontology Institute - $20,000; and Sunnyside Neighborhood Assoc. - $20,000.