Photo by Derek Redd Ohio Valley Center Clinical Manager Mike Hauber accepts a grant from the River Valley Health Fund on Wednesday at the ECO Center at Belmont College. With him are RVHF board members Sue White, center and Shelly Carenbauer.

ST. CLAIRSVILLE — The 14 Ohio Valley organizations that shared in six figures worth of grant money from the River Valley Health Fund accomplished an impressive feat, officials from the Community Foundation for the Ohio Valley said Wednesday morning. In one of the largest fields of applicants in the fund’s history, the group that assembled at the ECO Center on the campus of Belmont College stood above the rest in earning crucial dollars to fund projects improving the health and wellness of the region’s population.

Organizations up and down the valley were awarded grants from $5,000 up to $10,000 for projects geared to strengthening the health and well being of the Ohio Valley’s communities.

The competition for grant dollars has only grown more fierce, CFOV Program Officer Debbie Stanton said, and scores of groups applied for what ended up being $123,628 in grants.

“I cannot stress enough the extreme increase in volume that we’re receiving for grants,” Stanton said.

“So that speaks to you being here, how competitive it was and that you did a really good job with your applications.”

The grants come from the River Valley Health Fund, which continues the legacy of the former River Valley Health Foundation, established following the sale of Ohio Valley Medical Center and East Ohio Regional Hospital.

The fund supports nonprofits in Brooke, Ohio, Marshall, and Wetzel counties in West Virginia, and Belmont, Jefferson, Monroe, Guernsey, and Harrison counties in Ohio.

The 14 projects to be funded with these grants range from helping with food insecurity to improving healthcare in underserved areas. This year’s recipients were:

– The AIM Women’s Center in Stuebenville – $10,000 to expand its community doula program

– The Belmont County Court of Common Pleas Juvenile Division Probation Department – $7,000 to supply backpacks filled with health and beauty aids for children struggling with cleanliness

– The Brooke-Hancock Family Resource Network – $7,500 to fund the Brooke County Community Food Access Project, which brings healthy foods into communities dealing with food deserts

– Catholic Charities West Virginia – $10,000 for its Hospital Transition Program, which helps patients transition from the hospital to home

– Cumberland Trail Fire District #4 – $8,950 to equip its CARES program for community health outreach and education

– Hoops for the Heart VFD – $10,000 to fund health screenings in local communities

– Marietta Health Foundation – $7,178 for an EKG machine for its Woodsfield Health Clinic

– Medical Park Foundation – $10,000 for a new camera to help with forensic imaging in sexual assault cases

– Madison Elementary School – $8,000 for its Madison ANCHOR afterschool program, providing education and social enrichment for at-risk students

– Ohio Hills Health Services – $10,000 to fund screening tools at its Quaker City facility for early intervention for serious health issues

– Ohio Valley Health Center – $10,000 for laboratory testing supplies

– Thoburn United Methodist Church and the St. Clairsville Council of Churches Food Pantry – $5,000 for its Nourishing Our Neighbors dairy and protein access program

— Urban Mission Ministries – $10,000 for its “Mission Fresh” program, which operates a food pantry and provides medically tailored food boxes for diabetics

— Wheeling Health Right – $10,000 for staff training to operate a new high resolution 3-D dental x-ray machine

All the organizations receiving grants Wednesday were extremely grateful for the River Valley Health Fund’s support, as they all are trying to attack health issues in their respective communities. CARES Director Chad Zambori said his organization is trying to go into communities to help keep residents from having to go to the hospital.

“I can speak for Belmont County, but I can assume it’s the same everywhere, that both fire and EMS calls are on the rise,” he said. “We’re trying to take the burden off the fire department as much as we can. And by reducing 911 calls and hopefully reducing ER visits, we can take a little of the burden off hospitals to where they’re not admitting these patients and maybe opening up that bed for someone else.”

Ohio Valley Health Center Clinical Manager Mike Hauber said his organization can use the money to fund lab tests that can be given free of charge to patients.

“It’s very costly for some of the tests that we run,” he said. “These patients that come to us are people who, more often than not, don’t have insurance and don’t have any medical coverage. To get some of these labs, you’re talking about $800 or $900 or as much as $1,200.”

Both Wheeling Health Right Executive Director Anne Ricci and Catholic Charities Chief Mission Officer Katie Klug said Wednesday’s event was inspiring for multiple reasons. It showed there are organizations who put their faith in groups like theirs through funding, as well as show those groups that they’re not alone in their missions.

“There’s strength in numbers,” Klug said. “With the River Valley Health Fund and Community Foundation, they’re trusting us and want to partner with us, which means a lot.”

“Not only are you a recipient of funding,” Ricci said, “but hearing everyone is so inspiring and it makes you say, ‘OK, how can I partner with that organization over there?'”