Twice a year, the PACF’s Community Action Grant Program provides vital financial support for programs that address pressing needs and foster long-term improvements across the region. These grant awards are made possible by the generous contributions of individuals, businesses, and organizations that have created charitable funds at the Foundation. In addition, many donors with Donor Advised Funds at the PACF actively partner with the Foundation to help fund meaningful projects, significantly enhancing the PACF’s ability to support community progress.

The PACF’s grant awards this spring total $496,375, including $107,350 from the Fund for Ravenswood, $17,295 from the Ritchie County Community Foundation, $5,975 from the Doddridge County Community Foundation and $500 from the Little Kanawha Area Community Foundation affiliates.

“This grant cycle clearly demonstrates the increasing need among our community’s nonprofits,” said Fred Rader, Executive Director of the PACF. “We received more applications than ever before, with requests totaling more than $1.3 million. While we’re thrilled to award nearly half a million in support, it’s a reminder that we must continue growing our charitable resources to meet the rising demand. We encourage anyone who has an interest in the future of our region to consider partnering with us financially to make a meaningful difference.”

On Thursday, June 5, the PACF hosted its Spring Community Action Grant Awards Ceremony at its office on Park Avenue in Parkersburg. Grant recipients, fund holders, grants committee members, and PACF board members to celebrate the impact of local philanthropy and recognize the important work happening across the region.

Spring 2025 PACF Community Action Grant Recipients

•    Horizons Center for Independent Living, Inc.: $200 to replace 4 HVAC systems.
•    Girl Scouts of Black Diamond Council: $250 to provide underserved girls with high-quality leadership programming through a troop-based volunteer model and a partnership with the Boys and Girls Club, removing financial and logistical barriers to participation.
•    Pleasants County Humane Society: $250 to expand spay/neuter services to reduce pet overpopulation and improve animal welfare throughout the Mid-Ohio Valley, focusing on shelter animals and feral cat populations to create a healthier, safer environment.
•    Doddridge County Humane Society Inc.: $500 to re-floor the dog and cat quarantine areas of the shelter, an approximate 1,500 SF area.
•    Lubeck Elementary School: $500 to purchase a portable vital signs machine for use in the health office and on school grounds.
•    Pleasant Hill Elementary School: $500 to promote a love of literacy and quality reading materials for students and families.
•    Blennerhassett Elementary School: $1,000 to purchase CPR dummies for education.
•    Kanawha Elementary School: $1,246 to enhance emergency preparedness by increasing CPR training and emergency readiness bags throughout the building.
•    Jon Six Food Ministry: $1,675 to assist with food costs.
•    River City Runners and Walkers Club: $2,000 to support the River City Runners Kid's Series of 11 free races for ages one to 11, promoting a healthy family culture and free activities for youth and families in West Virginia.
•    Jackson County Commission on Aging - Aqua Fit Program: $2,100 to buy and install a new water pump.
•    Sleep in Heavenly Peace, Inc.: $2,250 to provide 100 children with a safe, comfortable bed, complete with a mattress, sheets, pillow, and blanket.
•    Ravenswood High School Band: $2,400 to purchase a new filing system for the band’s large music library.
•    Nazareth Farm, Inc.: $2,475 for summer 2025 home repair projects.
•    Gabriel Project of West Virginia: $2,500 to distribute essential baby items (formula, diapers, portable cribs, and car seats) to impoverished families in Ravenswood.
•    Ritchie County Extension: $2,500 to purchase a 14' x 24' Sturdi-Bilt storage building with electricity for storing 4-H camp and sports equipment.
•    Savannah's Closet: $2,500 to continue serving 100% of children referred and expand support for children in WV foster care.
•    Little Sandy CEOS (Community Educational Outreach Service): $2,700 to help needy individuals, support displaced children, and cover postage for packages to troops.
•    Greater Parkersburg Convention & Visitors Bureau: $2,900 for repairs and upgrades to "Plants at the Point," a community garden adjacent to the Welcome Center.
•    The Memorial Church of the Good Shepherd: $3,000 to replace 50-year-old kitchen drains and make other necessary upgrades.
•    Senior Stitchers Association: $3,353 to purchase sewing materials and supplies for 500–600 Christmas stockings for local organizations in 2025.
•    Williamstown Band Boosters, Inc.: $3,500 to purchase new raincoats for the Pride of Williamstown Marching Band.
•    North Bend Rails-to-Trails Foundation, Inc.: $3,945 to develop a trailhead near a popular tunnel along the 72-mile North Bend Rail Trail.
•    Doddridge County Family Resource Network: $4,000 for essential operating expenses during transition from the DC BOE umbrella.
•    Town of Cairo: $4,250 to update the town council meeting room and the upstairs restroom for the Cairo VFD and Cairo Museum.
•    Harrisville WV Town Park: $4,600 to improve Christmas light displays and build new bridges for the walking trail.
•    Williamstown High School Academic Boosters: $4,800 to expand ACT/SAT prep sessions into an 8-week bi-yearly class in fall and spring.
•    City of Ravenswood: $4,900 to purchase race timing equipment for 5Ks, bike races, cross country, and track training.
•    First Assembly of God: $5,000 to install a solar panel system and improved lighting to reduce electricity costs at the gym facility.
•    KidzWorld Learning Center Inc.: $5,000 to enhance the playground for children ages 2–10.
•    Parents and Friends of the Hearing Impaired, Inc.: $5,000 to provide 42 hearing aids to 25 low-income deaf or hard of hearing individuals.
•    WVU Foundation (Extension - Family Nutrition Program): $5,000 to increase the consumption and availability of fresh produce for families in the Wood County School District.
•    West Virginia University Foundation, Inc.: $5,250 to partially support a low vision clinic in the local area.
•    Colonial House: $5,500 to purchase an intercom and three electronic locks.
•    House to Home Day Shelter - A Project of the Parkersburg Area Coalition for the Homeless: $6,000 to update electrical service at 825 7th Street by adding three 200-amp panels.
•    Operation Fancy Free Inc.: $6,750 to expand free TNVR services to include flea, tick, and deworming treatment for healthier cat returns.
•    Blennerhassett Historical Foundation: $9,000 to replace several docent costumes that have reached the end of their useful life.
•    GFWC Parkersburg Woman's Club: $9,000 for the Brown Bag Project, which provides nutritional snack bags to 340 Jefferson Elementary students for weekends and holidays.
•    Boys & Girls Club of Pleasants County: $10,000 to upgrade and modernize a heavily used classroom for 3rd–4th grade members.
•    For Him LLC: $10,000 for HVAC (heating installation).
•    Fourth Circuit Public Defender Corporation: $10,000 to provide safe, reliable transportation to treatment facilities for indigent clients with substance abuse or mental health disorders.
•    Mid-Ohio Valley Health Department (Community Health Department): $10,000 to support the Smiles for Life program providing oral health services to low-income residents and students.
•    Parkersburg High School: $10,000 to fund summer school for students needing credit recovery who cannot afford it.
•    Ravenswood High School: $10,000 to upgrade equipment for hosting meets and community activities.
•    Ravenswood Youth Softball and Baseball League: $10,000 for capital improvements, equipment, and facility upgrades.
•    Harrisville Volunteer Fire Department: $11,000 to replace aging firefighting boots.
•    Greenmont Elementary School: $11,291 to support special education services for students in Autism, Multi-Categorical, and Blended Pre-K programs.
•    Catholic Charities West Virginia: $12,000 for its mobile food pantry serving Calhoun, Doddridge, Pleasants, Ritchie, Roane, and Wirt Counties.
•    Vets 4 Vets Jackson County WV: $12,000 to provide ongoing medical equipment support for veterans and their families.
•    American Red Cross of the Ohio River Valley: $15,000 to acquire an Emergency Response Vehicle for disaster support and recovery services.
•    Consumer Credit Counseling Service of the Mid-Ohio Valley: $15,000 to offset operating costs for services in Jackson County, WV.
•    Old Man Rivers Mission: $15,000 to be equally distributed across all programs.
•    Parkersburg South High School: $15,000 for scholarships and additional teacher support during summer school for students from low-income backgrounds.
•    Wood County Schools: $15,000 to support a "Speaker Series" on disability awareness and inclusion.
•    Gabriel Project of West Virginia: $15,550 to provide essential baby items (formula, car seats, cribs, diapers) to low-income families in Pleasants, Wood, Wirt, and Washington Counties.
•    YMCA of Parkersburg: $16,000 to install a heating and cooling unit in the childcare classroom.
•    North Star Child Advocacy Center: $19,740 for IT installation on the second floor of a new facility to expand services.
•    Boys & Girls Club of Parkersburg: $20,000 for summer camp programming, meals, snacks, and field trips.
•    Calhoun County Committee on Aging, Inc.: $20,000 to support increased demand for the Congregate Meals program.
•    Mid-Ohio Valley Fellowship Home Inc.: $20,000 for continuum of care services.
•    Mountaineer Food Bank: $20,000 to support its mobile pantry program.
•    Ravenswood Volunteer Fire Department: $20,500 to purchase five sets of bunker gear including coats, pants, helmets, gloves, boots, and particulate hoods.
•    The Education Alliance: $25,000 for phase 1 of "Soaring Futures," an aerospace career pathway initiative in Ravenswood Middle and High Schools.

The upcoming Fall Grant Cycle will begin accepting applications on July 15, 2025 until September 15, 2025. To be eligible for a Community Action Grant, applicants must be private nonprofit organizations or public institutions. Either the applicant or the proposed project must be located within the PACF’s eleven-county service area, which includes: Calhoun, Doddridge, Gilmer, Jackson, Mason, Pleasants, Ritchie, Roane, Wirt, Lewis and Wood counties in West Virginia, and Washington County, Ohio. For more information about the Parkersburg Area Community Foundation and its grant programs, please visit the grants tab.