Local nonprofits benefit from Friends of Bantam Jeep Association funds
More than half a dozen local nonprofits and organizations reaped the benefits of donations from the Friends of the Bantam Jeep Association at the end of last year.
The organization, which raises funds through the annual Bantam Jeep Heritage Festival and Trailfest, awarded $13,800 in holiday donations to nine nonprofit organizations in Butler County in December.
It was the eighth consecutive year the association has given back to the community through its holiday giving program. The association has donated nearly $174,000 since its inception in 2015.
One of those beneficiaries was the Hobnob Theatre Company in Butler, which used a $1,100 donation for additional children’s programming.
That money covered royalty fees to put on four productions of “The Velveteen Rabbit” in April for dozens of children at a low cost.
“We specifically asked for money to be able to provide this, since there isn’t really anything like that in Butler,” said Hobnob Theatre Company co-owner Liz Smith.
The theatre is looking to do something similar sometime in November, but Smith said no determination has been made on which production will be featured.
“It was great, because otherwise we would have to pay for the royalties, and we would’ve probably lost money on the production,” she said. “It was really, really helpful to provide those funds so we could hold those productions.”
Another organization, The Andrew Effect, which provides children with opportunities that spark creativity and learning, used $1,000 to launch a new program for kindergartners called “Dramatic Play.”
Those funds allowed the nonprofit to build wooden play structures for students at Haine Elementary School in Cranberry Township.
“We could not provide these important programs without grants and donors like the Friends of Bantam Jeep (Association),” said The Andrew Effect president Candace Kantz. “We cannot thank them enough for the support.”
She said the organization plans to continue the program at other elementary schools in the county that would be interested.
“We are currently working with Butler Area School District to launch the same program,” Kantz said.
“We are just starting the planning process. Our goal as an organization is to make this program available to any school district in Butler County that is interested. We do not operate the program in the classroom. We give the districts all of the materials to incorporate into their curriculum. It is an amazing program, and we look forward to spreading it across Butler County.”
Other beneficiaries of last year’s funds included CB Rangers, CANDLE Inc., North Country Trail Association, Sons of the American Legion Post 778, Soroptimist International of Butler County, VOICe (Victim Outreach Intervention Center) and YWCA.
