FINE — The Clifton-Fine Community Fund of the Northern New York Community Foundation will support three community projects with $6,000 in grant funding for initiatives and programs that benefit residents of six southeast St. Lawrence County communities.

The Clifton-Fine Community Fund was established at the Community Foundation in 2013 as a geographic specific fund to support projects and programs that positively impact the quality of life in the southeast St. Lawrence County region, specifically in the towns and hamlets of Fine, Oswegatchie, Star Lake, Newton Falls, Wanakena and Cranberry Lake.

The fund aims to enhance the quality of life for all who live in the region while maximizing the opportunity for residents to give where they live.

“The diversity of grant support deployed across the Clifton-Fine region will help many individuals, families and communities,” said Max DelSignore, Community Foundation assistant director. “You see the impact of every gift made to the Clifton-Fine Community Fund through these grants. As the fund continues to grow, and others generously participate with a contribution to the fund, more programs and projects will receive meaningful support and help the region prosper.”

The Northern New York Community Foundation stewards this charitable fund. To build initial support, the Foundation awarded a $50,000 challenge grant to donors interested in giving to this philanthropic resource.

By the end of 2014, people from across the region came together to create a $100,000 community fund that will award grants to support local projects and nonprofit organizations in perpetuity.

A committee of citizens from the Clifton-Fine region collaborates with the Community Foundation to evaluate grant requests each year.

Since 2014, the Community Fund has awarded more than two-dozen organizations nearly $50,000 to support 48 projects and initiatives.

This year’s grant recipients are:

• Clifton-Fine Central School — $4,000 to support the Clifton-Fine BackPack Pantry that distributes weekly backpacks of nonperishable food items to students from pre-kindergarten to sixth grade. The program also supports families with emergency needs such as household fuel costs, vehicle repairs, clothing, medical needs and more. Grant funding will bolster program operations and continue to help local children and families with essential needs. An additional $1,000 grant from the Lester Allen and Stephen Moyer Fund of the Community Foundation was also awarded to support the program.

• Arc Jefferson-St. Lawrence Foundation — $1,000 to help the organization purchase watersports equipment to enhance program access at The Lodge at Dodge Pond in Oswegatchie. The facility is an inclusive environment with programs offered to people of all ages with disabilities. Thirteen individuals from the Clifton-Fine area attend its Day Habilitation at the Lodge. The Arc is working to increase beach and water access for individuals participating in its programs.

• Fine Volunteer Fire Department — $1,000 to help purchase up to fifty 9-1-1 reflective signs that will be placed in windows at local residences to help improve responsiveness to calls. The department plans to go to each home and install these signs. The volunteer fire department covers approximately 200 homes within its rural district.

• The Clifton-Fine Community Fund will accept proposals for 2025 grant funding in August. Complete details and an application will be made available next summer. Meanwhile, to help extend the effort and make a gift to the fund, visit nnycf.org to access secure online giving.