The Martha’s Vineyard Community Foundation will award $530,000 to 46 local nonprofits this year through its Community & Impacts Grant program.

According to executive director Paul Schulz, the amount is a 26 per cent increase over last year’s donation and the largest the foundation has given away since its inception in 1982.

“It’s very humbling to be able to support so many different nonprofits in a hopefully meaningful way and make them a little more sustainable,” Mr. Schulz said.

The Community & Impact Grant program is offered annually to nonprofits that provide significant service to the Island. Initiatives include accessibility, health services, education opportunity, food security, language access and housing.  

Program manager Elizabeth Bennett said there were 66 total applications, and thanked the organization’s board members for their dedication in deciding which organizations would receive grants. 

“It requires a tremendous amount of time and energy, but also knowledge about the community and familiarity with what the needs are and how that organization is proposing to meet the needs or continue the services that they have been providing,” Ms. Bennett said.

Nonprofits are an essential part of the Island, Mr. Schulz said.

“Part of what makes this place so special is the rich nonprofit community that contributes, and anything we can do at the Community Foundation to sustain and support that is money well spent,” he said. 

Ms. Bennett echoed the sentiment, adding that the money is given to the community from the community.  

“The most important thing about our grant process is that it is made possible by community members coming together and donating funds that then go back out into the community,” she said.