The Hamilton College Town-Gown Fund recently distributed a record $157,000 in grants to 14 non-profit and public safety organizations serving the Town of Kirkland and the Village of Clinton.
The fund has now awarded $1 million since grants were first made in 2001.
“This is a significant milestone in the history of the Town-Gown Fund,” said Hamilton President David Wippman, who chairs the committee of community leaders who meet regularly to select grant recipients. “The fund was created to award grants in perpetuity, and as the value of the endowment has grown, so too has the investment in the health and vitality of our community. Over time, these grants have enhanced nearly every aspect of life in the village and town.”
Wippman said $10,000 was awarded to five organizations when grants were first made in 2001, but the overall value of the awards has averaged about $75,000 in each of the past five years.
The Town-Gown Fund suspended grant-making activity in 2020 due to the pandemic, but carried over those funds to account for the record total disbursed in 2021.
The Clinton Central School District has been the largest beneficiary of Town-Gown grants, with 19 awards totaling more than $232,000. That includes $23,550 this year for polycarbonate barriers, instrumental band PPE, and technology upgrades to High School science classrooms.
CCS also received the largest Town-Gown grant ever, $25,000 in 2014, to create a modern language learning lab. An additional $112,000 has been awarded to the Clinton Central School District Foundation, which supports programs…