Columbus, Ohio USA
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ComFest Grants
Our Principles in Action
May/June 2016 Issue

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Susan Sturgill

ComFest is more than a weekend in June. The organization reaches into the community 365 days a year by funding individuals and organizations with community-based projects aligned with the ComFest Statement of Principles.

In 2016, the ComFest Grants Committee awarded eleven grants for full or partial funding for a number of diverse projects.

Actor’s Theatre of Columbus (ATC) received summer camp scholarships for youth to participate in professional theatrical training, production and performance experiences, culminating in a showcase on the Schiller Park stage.

Creative Strings Academy received scholarships for student to participate in workshops geared toward introducing improvisation, composition and contemporary, non-classical musical style to beginning and advanced string players, ages nine to eighteen. The program serves the community-at-large through the production and performance of numerous free concerts at venues throughout central Ohio.

Central Ohio Green Education Fund’s WGRN Radio Women’s Programming Initiative promotes and broadcasts radio programming centered on the knowledge, experience, culture and perspectives of women, with a particular focus on the
environment, arts, and social justice.

Community Organizing Center’s Southside Community Collaborative Teen Institute focuses on building a safe, productive and healthy neighborhood by connecting community and clinical-based organizations to address trauma and celebrate the resiliency of Southside youth and families. It includes a talent show and weekly, youth-produced radio shows. Cornerstone of Hope In-School Grief Support Group serves disadvantaged children and youth in central Ohio schools with a focus on providing elementary, middle and high school groups in Columbus City Schools a safe place to grieve and the support they need utilizing traditional and expressive arts counseling methods.

Ethiopian Tewahedo Social Services provides a Human Trafficking Awareness Campaign featuring training and workshops for immigrant and refugee communities in central Ohio. In partnership with the New American Community Impact Collaborative, adults and more than 300 students at six after-school program sites will receive culturally sensitive trainings to help prevent trafficking and increase awareness.

Franklin County Local Outreach to Suicide Survivors (LOSS) will sponsor the Out of the Darkness Suicide Prevention walk and participants will create remembrance jewelry, and a monthly survivor scrapbook group will offer a place for survivors to meet one another in a safe place to talk about their loss.

Franklinton Cycle Works is expanding neighborhood access through installation of an outdoor bicycle air pump and maintenance station, serving a community where bicycles a primary mode of transportation.

Good Neighbors of Central Ohio annual Good Neighbors Picnic in Goodale Park provides a carefree day of celebration for homeless individuals in Central Ohio. Transportation to and from over 20 shelters is provided. Last year, the day provided nearly 1,100 plates of food, 4,000 books, and clothing for 699 individuals.

Third Hand Bicycle Coop’s LED lighting conversion at the organization, located in the Milo Grogan neighborhood of Columbus, will directly impact the environment by providing a more sustainable solution for the organization’s energy demands.

Vanderelli Room’s Artist Holistic Integrated Educational Program allows young artists (12-18) with autism and other disabilities to experience art-making and art education alongside their typically-developing peers. Funds will allow the program to bring in professional artists to mentor the students and purchase supplies.

Grant recipients will be introduced during the ComFest Awards Ceremony, held on the Bozo Stage Saturday afternoon at the festival. Join us to celebrate the people and organizations that live the ComFest Statement of Principles every day. You can check out the ComFest website at www.comfest.com for more information and details on how to apply.

COMFEST AWARDS CEREMONY Saturday, June 25, 2016: Bozo Stage

2016 COMFEST June 24, 25 & 26, 2016: Goodale Park, 120 W. Goodale St.

© 2016 Short North Gazette, Columbus, Ohio. All rights reserved.

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