Jeep festival group to give nonprofits $25K
Organizers of the Bantam Jeep Heritage Festival announced Monday that they will once again offer financial gifts to nonprofit organizations in Butler County.
Friends of Bantam Jeep Association put out a call for applications from nonprofit organizations Monday, marking the third year in which the group will donate proceeds from the festival to 501C(3) organizations.
The association will offer a total of $25,000 in financial gifts this year, said spokesman Patti Jo Lambert.
In the last two years the association has awarded $50,000 to various nonprofit groups. In 2017, $30,000 in gifts were awarded to 25 organizations, in amounts that ranged from $500 to $2,500.
To apply this year nonprofit groups must visit http://www.bantamjeepfestival.com/financial-gift-application and fill out an online application. Applications must be received no later than 5 p.m. Sept. 30.
Scott Wagner, association president, said the group’s board of directors will evaluate applications and make awards based on demonstrated need and how projects benefit the community.
“One of the association’s core values is charitable support/community involvement,” said Todd Wagner, the group’s president, in a news release. “Over the last two years our gift recipients have been able to help our community in many different ways, which is very rewarding to our group.”
Lambert said Monday that the association had already awarded two gifts this year.
This year a gift of $2,200 will be awarded to VA Butler Healthcare’s homeless veterans program on behalf of Omix-ADA, one of the 2018 festival’s premier sponsors which raised funds by selling merchandise.
The association also has awarded $1,700 to the K9s for Warriors organization, Lambert said. The group is a national nonprofit that provides service dogs for veterans. The award comes from entry fees from the festival’s Phantom Proving Groups Jeep pull this year.
In addition to the awards, the association has already provided more than $20,000 to organizations that helped with the 2018 festival, the group said.
