GLENDALE : Foundation Funds 5 Local Charities

The Glendale Community Foundation recently awarded more than $13,000 to five local charitable organizations for assistance in their daily operations.

Ranging from $700 for a Multiple Sclerosis Society video camera to a two-year award of $10,000 for a retirement home fire alarm system, the grants are part of a bimonthly program primarily intended to provide support to the disabled, senior citizens, disaster victims and the emotionally disturbed.

Tom Miller, foundation executive director, said the group makes awards to 52 nonprofit organizations each year.

He said the only criterion “is that these agencies be either physically located in Glendale or that they serve Glendale residents.”

A good example of the latter, said Miller, is the California Philanthropic and Educational Organization Home, or PEO, a non-college-affiliated sorority based in Des Moines, Iowa. PEO provides scholarships and loans to women looking to further their education or make ends meet. It was established in 1869 and now has retirement homes for women throughout the United States and Canada.

Because several members of a newly constructed residential hall in Alhambra will be from Glendale, the Glendale Community Foundation has, over a two-year period, agreed to provide the sorority with the $10,000 needed for an upgraded fire alarm system.

“The grant will help defray the cost of building a new residential hall,” said Ruth Wolfe, president of the California PEO Home Board of Trustees. “This will allow us to continue care for the several PEO retirees residing in Southern California.”

Other award recipients include the American Red Cross, which received $2,500 for a disaster services canteen truck; Glendale Kiwanis Youth Inc., $2,500 to allow fifth-grade students to attend a conference on American history in Valley Forge, Pa., and the Verdugo Mental Health Center, $2,500 for a photocopier to be used at the center’s program at Magnolia Park School.

Foundation grants are made possible by endowments provided by the more than 1,000 philanthropists donating to the organization throughout its 38-year history. Upon receiving an endowment, the foundation deposits the money in an interest-accruing account and then allocates awards every two months based on the projected amount of interest earned during the year.

Last year, the foundation awarded more than $65,000 in grants.

“How much we can allocate hinges on the interest rate environment,” Miller said. “Fortunately, rates are going up this year.”