Eastern Market’s North Hall was vibrating with excitement, quite literally, on Tuesday evening. The Capitol Hill Community Foundation’s Great Grants Giveaway opened with a performance by two drummers from Step Afrika!. If you happened to be walking by, you couldn’t miss the all-encompassing beat, or the smiles of grantees.
Each year in the spring and fall, the Capitol Hill Community Foundation gives grants for projects that benefit the Hill community. Started in 1989, CHCF raises money through voluntary contributions (have you ever been to A Literary Feast?) and then gives 100% of that money back to the community through grants in the spring and fall. This week, 55 organizations received grants in the spring cycle, totaling around $115,000. CHCF also gives a $10,000 award in the name of Dr. Arnold Keller, Jr., pastor emeritus of the Lutheran Church of the Reformation, at the Capitol Hill Community Achievement Awards dinner in May. This year the organization gave two $10,000 grants, to Atlas Performing Arts Center and Theater Alliance at H Street Playhouse, “in recognition of the role they have played in defining H Street as an arts destination in the city.”
The 55 awards fell into five categories: school-based programs, after school programs, social services, arts and neighborhood beautification. A list of grant recipients and their projects can be found here and will shortly be available on the CHCF website.
For information on how to apply for a grant, look here. The fall deadline is September 24th.