Announcing Our 2024 Messer Foundation Grant Recipients

The Boys and Girls Clubs of Indianapolis (BGCI) provides nationally recognized afterschool and summer programs at each of their ten locations, which serves over 3,200 members. The organization helps children and youth with homework, awards college scholarships and provides students with food, education about the danger of poor choices, and encouragement to develop leadership qualities. In addition, the organization teaches students the value of building and contributing to their community.

They plan to use their awarded grant money towards implementing a logistical teaching and learning plan to help children read at grade level by third grade, tutor children to ensure readiness to complete Algebra I before or during high school, and make sure every member of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Indianapolis graduates high school.

The Goodwill Industries of the Southern Piedmont has served 18 counties throughout North and South Carolina since 1965. Their programs provide training in construction, IT, banking and essential workplace skills. The organization also provides basic needs referrals, resume prep, interview skills and career coaching.

The awarded grant money will go towards building a new model home at Goodwill’s Construction Skills Training Center, which will provide vocational and hands-on training to students to help them learn carpentry, electrical, HVAC, and blueprint reading and estimating.

Located in downtown Greenville, the South Carolina Children’s Theatre hosts live theater productions, educational classes and camps year-round. Their season is made up of eight different productions each year geared towards both families and children.

With the awarded grant money, the theater is looking to acquire new state-of-the-art sound equipment needed to complete the Younts stage, which is a performance and workshop space for education classes, technical theatre labs, summer camps, rehearsals, and outside rentals.

The Nashville Food Project sets out to provide healthy food access to Nashville residents. They partner with more than 50 non-profit and community-based organizations to provide sustainable food for everyone in middle Tennessee. In their community meals program, they provide 6,000 made-from-scratch meals each week. In addition, they provide other programs like community meals, food recovery, community and production gardening, market farming and fresh produce distribution programs.

Awarded grant money will go towards a new dry storage facility to keep food fresh.