Eastside nonprofit organizations will receive $470,000 from the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation. The grants are specifically geared towards supporting children, families and communities as a whole.
Eastside groups benefiting include Overlake Hospital Foundation, Kirlin Charitable Foundation and Youth Eastside Services in Bellevue and the Kirkland Center of the Performing Arts in Kirkland.
In all, Allen’s foundation will aid 77 nonprofit organizations in the Northwest by awarding more than $11.8 million in charitable grants.
The Overlake Hospital Foundation will utilize the grant money to move forward with the expansion of their South Tower.
“The population growth in the Eastside has increased along with the diversity, the amount of languages spoken and low-income families in the community,” said Marie Kurose, Overlake foundation’s senior program officer. “The hosipital is seeing a huge increase in demand and this grant will help them expand to better meet the increased needs of the uninsured.”
The Kirlin Charitable Foundation will use the grant money awarded to it to host the Seeds of Compassion event taking place in Seattle next week.
“This event will bring a lot of people together from educators, to those in early childhood learning and the community to examine new ways to encourage young people to get involved in their community and get inspired about their futures,” explained Peter Berliner, the foundation’s program director.
Over the years, Bellevue has received a total of $1.1 million in grants from the Allen foundation.
Microsoft co-founder, Paul G. Allen first established the foundation in 1988 to help support nonprofit organizations throughout the Pacific Northwest. Since its beginnings, the foundation has awarded more than $390 million in grants to over 1,300 nonprofit groups.
The latest $11.8 million in funding will advance initiatives in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and Alaska. Washington will receive 68 percent of the total grant money, amounting to $8 million divided among 46 organizations. The grants are based on an application process and include a total annual budget of approximately $30 million.
The charitable contributions in this latest grant cycle focused primarily in three areas of giving. The foundation designated $5,125,000 to arts and culture, $3,020,000 for community development and social change programs and $3,685,000 dedicated to youth engagement work.
More information about the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation is avaiable at www.pgafamilyfoundation.org.
Lindsay Larin can be reached at llarin@reporternewspapers.com or 425-453-4602.
