Over the past 16 years, the Dr. Lyle F. Renodin Foundation has provided well over
$1 million in grants to agencies in the Twin Tiers, basically through word-of-mouth and direct contact.
Renodin Foundation officials, who announced spring grants in the amount of $30,982 were recently awarded to 14 area agencies, hopes that even more non-profits will be helped in the future through the foundation’s new website which accepts online donations.
Laura Whitford, president of the foundation and St. Elizabeth Mission Society in Allegany, N.Y., said the agency was pleased to award the spring grantees and would like to help more in the future.
“We are doing well, but we could always provide more if we had more contributions,” Whitford said. “We do what we can with what we have — that’s the great thing about the foundation, we can help a lot with a little.”
Whitford said the website renodinfoundation.org is hoped to attract more donations from people, businesses and organizations in the region.
“People can donate online with Paypal,” she explained. “And all charitable contributions are tax-deductible.”
Whitford said Renodin board members also plan to raise money in the local community this year to bolster the coffers, which will help more organizations. She said this will be accomplished by board members approaching others for donations. In addition, the public will be contacted for help through the website, press releases and Facebook information posted by Connie Cooper, communications coordinator.
“She’s really helped us,” Whitford said of Cooper.
In addition to donations, those in need of grants may also use the website to apply for the funds, Whitford continued.
“We just started doing (online applications) with this spring cycle,” Whitford explained. “It’s really easy and not a high-tech system. Of the 15 or 16 applications we got, about 10 of them did it online.”
In addition, only one application was sent through the postal service while the others were emailed, she added.
Whitford said that while the majority of grants over the years are provided to agencies in Olean and Allegany, the foundation reminds non-profits from outside of the area to submit applications.
“We do encourage applications from McKean County (in Pennsylvania) and Allegany County,” she said. A number of agencies in those two regions have been helped by the foundation in the past and are welcome to apply for help again.
“We are welcoming them so we can get a broader reach in those three counties we serve,” Whitford remarked. “I’m always happy to talk to people before they put an application in … to ensure a successful application.”
As for the history of the foundation, officials have noted it was created after the Franciscan Sisters sold the former St. Francis Hospital to Olean General Hospital over 25 years ago. Proceeds from the sale were set aside to create the foundation, which was named in 2000 for Renodin, a longtime friend and financial advisor to the Sisters. The foundation has provided grants to nonprofit agencies in New York state and Pennsylvania since 2002. Each year, organizations are asked to submit grant applications to the foundation by Feb. 1 and Aug. 1 each year. Grants are then provided two times each year.
Providing information on the current grant recipients was Dominic Rogers, board chairman of the foundation. The recipients are Allegany Council on Alcohol and Substance Abuse, Wellsville, N.Y.; Boy Scouts of America, Falconer, N.Y.; Canticle Farm, Allegany; Congregational Samaritans, Wellsville; First Baptist Church of Cuba, N.Y.; First Baptist Church of Olean; His Dwelling Place Ministries, Dayton, N.Y.; Interfaith Caregivers, Olean; Loaves & Fishes Southern Tier Food Pantry, Olean; Olean Food Pantry; City of Olean Housing Authority Veggie Mobile; Basilica of St. Mary’s, Grief Support Program; St. Vincent de Paul Thrift Store, Olean; and the ReHabilitation Center, Subcon Industries, Olean.
For more information on the foundation, contact Whitford at 716-373-0200.
