The Greater Kanawha Valley Foundation has awarded roughly $496,000 in grants to 48 projects. These first-quarter grants are part of the foundation’s Arts, Culture and Education granting cycle.

These grants strengthen the quality of life in the community, Greater Kanawha President and CEO Becky Ceperley said.

The biggest grant, $45,000, goes to Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic, West Virginia Unit, to record textbooks on audio format.

The next biggest grant, $40,000, goes to the West Virginia Division of Culture and History to develop an educational component for the long-delayed redo of the West Virginia State Museum, closed since January 2004 and slated for a reopening in 2009. Culture and History’s education staff will work with the State Board of Education and its Regional Education Service Agencies to ensure that the museum’s educational program meet content standards across multiple disciplines for all grade levels.

Founded in 1962, Greater Kanawha is a community foundation with more than $153 million in assets, having added $15.7 million in value from Dec. 31, 2006, to Dec. 31, 2007. The foundation’s assets are in 423 separate, named funds.

About $4.85 million of the assets - and 86 additional named funds - belong to three recently formed community foundations: $513,000 in the Boone County Community Foundation Fund; $109,000 in the Lincoln County Community Foundation Fund; and $4.24 million in the Greater Greenbrier Valley Community Foundation Fund.

Some Greater Kanawha funds go to donor-designated causes, some to donor-advised causes, some to a donor’s general field of interest and some to a general all-purpose pool.

Grants awarded in 2007 totaled $5.2 million plus another $850,000 in scholarships.

Greater Kanawha serves the six-county region of Kanawha, Putnam, Clay, Fayette, Lincoln and Boone.

Here is the list of awards:

Amazing Grace Fellowship, Racine: Soundproof the gym so that multiple activities may take place in free after-school program, $14,000.

Appalachian Children’s Chorus: Support for children’s choral festival held Memorial Day weekend, $7,800.

Appalachian Community Partners: Provide matching funds for federal AmeriCorps program at the Southern Appalachian Labor School’s Community Center, Beards Fork, $6,780.

Appalachian Leadership & Education Foundation: Recruit, educate and develop leadership skills among young people who might find college otherwise unattainable, $8,125.

Arts in Action: Weeklong day camp for youth ages 5-19 to discover their artistic passion through dance, art, drama, music, puppetry, sign language, $7,500.

Bituminous Coal Heritage Foundation: Sponsor exhibit of life-size photographs of contemporary West Virginia coal miners at Boone County Museum, $500.

Capital Area Development Corporation Foundation: Help Planners R Us program, Charleston Landmarks coloring book and monthly Art Walks in downtown Charleston, $9,000.

Bob Burdette Center, Inc.: Help buy exhaust hood, safety materials and fire escape stairs for West Side after-school program, $6,420.

Charleston Chamber Music Society: Support 2008-2009 season, $3,168.

Clay Center for the Arts and Sciences: Fund fee waivers for participating schools in Boone, Clay, Fayette, and Lincoln counties, $20,000.

Clay County Board of Education: Expand Parent Resource Center, $4,350.

Clay Elementary School: Expand reading program, $5,400.

Clay County 4-H Leader’s Association: Provide scholarships to attend summer camp, $2,475.

Clay County Communications: Help fund events on Memorial Day, Independence Day and Labor Day weekends, $5,000.

Clay County High School: Help build technical theater building to teach theater arts, $10,000.

College Summit-West Virginia: Expand college access service to area schools, $9,000.

East End Family Resource Center: Support Music Mentors, a community-based music education program, $8,000.

Education Alliance: Help purchase technology equipment by offering classroom mini-grant program to area schools, $10,000.

FestivALL, Charleston: Offer artistic support, $10,000.

George Washington High School: Fund a wireless mobile computer lab, $5,000.

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