RSRF Gift Wraps $200K In Grants

Press release from the Rising Sun Regional Foundation

(Rising Sun, Ind.) - The Rising Sun Regional Foundation awarded a total of $200,000 in eight new grants for its Fourth Quarter 2011 Grants Cycle.  These grants included:

Up to $30,000 to the City of Rising Sun toward a local match for an Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority grant request for an owner-occupied housing rehabilitation project in the city;

$50,000 to the Rising Sun/Ohio County Community School Corporation toward Phase II upgrades to theRisingSunHigh Schoolvarsity softball field complex;

$5,000 to the Rising Sun/Ohio County Community School Corporation toward the purchase of a mobile interactive smartboard to be utilized throughout the school;

$5,000 challenge grant to the St. Louis School in Batesville toward the purchase of 30 iPad2’s for its gym, art, music, and Spanish classes;

$5,000 to the Rural Alliance for the Arts toward a broad participant mural project in downtown Batesville;

$50,000 to the Ripley County Commissioners toward the purchase of a chipper box for its Highway Department to more efficiently recoat county roads;

$50,000 to the Town of Napoleon to offset the costs of the purchase and installation of a tank that will chlorinate and dechlorinate the effluent discharge at its sewer treatment facility as required by the Indiana Department of Environmental Management; and a

$5,000 challenge grant to the Oldenburg Academy toward the replacement of technology hardware and the addition of software for its Art Department.

In announcing these new grants, foundation President Marianne Wiggers stated, “The Rising Sun Regional Foundation ended 2011 with grants awarded exceeding $1 million, bringing the total over the past 15 years to almost $26 million.  RSRF calculates that this grant total has assisted in leveraging over $310 million for approximately 1,150 projects in its grantmaking region.” 

“For 2012,” Ms. Wiggers added, “RSRF has again set its grants budget to exceed $1 million.”   

The Rising Sun Regional Foundation was created in 1994 by the City of Rising Sun in conjunction with the development of the Grand Victoria Casino and Resort by the Hyatt Corporation.  The foundation began its grantmaking program in early 1997 after the Grand Victoria Casino opened for business in September 1996.  The recently rebranded Rising Star Casino and Resorts, now owned by Full House Resorts, Inc., makes monthly contributions to the foundation based on a percentage of its adjusted gross revenue.