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SCARSDALE, N.Y. – The United Way of Scarsdale-Edgemont awarded six local organizations small grants to support their efforts in promoting improved education and health in the community.
The grants were awarded through the United Way’s Local Presence Program, which designates money for nonprofits that provide critical services within the community. The six organizations in Scarsdale and Edgemont were awarded grants between $729 and $1,000.
Shannon Cobb, the senior vice president of marketing and communications for the United Way of Westchester and Putnam, said that while the grants are meager, they still prove valuable.
“Our local presence grants are important despite their size, because they can be used to address short-term needs in the community with less restrictions than our larger grants,” she said.
This year’s local presence grants were awarded to the Friends of the Scarsdale Library, Edgemont Scholarship Council, Hospice and Palliative Care of Westchester, the Westchester Coalition for the Hungry and Homeless, Scarsdale High School PTA Scholarship Fund, and the Scarsdale Foundation.
United Way Local Presence Committee members Janice Cohen, Sidney Witter and Alfredo Gonzalez helped determine which organizations received the $5,400 in grants.
“There are groups of volunteers who live in the communities that identify nonprofits who need these funds,” Cobb said. “The volunteers are there to see the day-to-day needs. They can infuse these funds into the programs that need it most.”
In both Scarsdale and Edgemont, the money will be used for scholarships, to promote innovative programs for children with special needs and to purchase food for the hungry.
“Many people misunderstand what the United Way does in the community,” Cobb said. “It’s a hybrid organization that researches and invests funds in the community, coordinates community initiatives, and runs programs.”
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