Supporting a small community in a big way: The Greater Oxford Community Foundation

To Betsy Hope, the Greater Oxford Community Foundation is all about providing a sense of belonging and assisting various efforts around the area .

"[The foundation] looks for projects or programs that carry out their mission [and are] beneficial to our residents," said Hope, executive director of the foundation.

The Greater Oxford Community Foundation’s goal for the past 29 years has been to enhance the quality of life for citizens in the Tallawanda School District and surrounding areas by funding various programs and service projects.

The foundation follows a yearly cycle with three grant deadlines. Most recently, the Oxford Community Foundation gave out $58,232 in grant money.

According to the foundation website, the sense of community the grants aim to bring is the inspiration behind the foundation as well.

"We weren't started by a big company or another foundation," Hope said. "[Our contributors] are individuals that donate their own money, and then we invest the donations conservatively and make them grow."

Tallawanda Middle School and Tallawanda High School were among the many recipients awarded grant money during the foundation's most recent cycle.

"The Community Foundation, on a regular basis, has funded at least a portion of some field trips," said Holli Hansel, the director of communications and public relations for the Tallawanda School District. "As funding changes across the state, some of those really rewarding experiences get cut. When you have an organization in your community to help support some of those learning opportunities, it's a great help."

In addition to field trips, Tallawanda High School's Mock Trial has received enough funding to put on a training camp over the summer for students interested in learning more about the organization and the U.S. trial system.

"We're really fortunate,” Hansel said. “To have a community foundation in a little place like Oxford, Ohio, [is] very lucky."

The foundation has had an impact outside Tallawanda Schools as well. The Oxford Free Press was awarded $10,000 during the most recent grant cycle for sustainment purposes, according to a press release.

"We use this mainly to cover [the cost of] our weekly printing that we do," said Aidan Cornue, editor-in-chief of the Oxford Free Press. "We have the paper done usually by Wednesday, and then we get our papers in on Fridays and pass them [out].”

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While the foundation has grown immensely over the years, with almost $16.4 million in assets, the goal of the foundation has never changed.

"It's the same mission. People [in Oxford] are very in tune with their community. They understand there are people who don't have as much to eat and people who are having trouble finding affordable housing," Hope said. "We're just trying to work hand in hand with people and provide them with resources in a smart way."

The Oxford Community Foundation is currently accepting applications for the next grant deadline on December 15.

terlessk@miamioh.edu