Jun 3, 2016 3 min read

Washington County Community Foundation announced Thursday two nonprofits will benefit this year from their President’s Choice Awards.

Highland Ridge Community Development Corporation and Independence Conservancy each received $10,000 unrestricted grants from the foundation’s Acorn Fund. The President’s Choice Award, previously the Director’s Choice Award, has been given annually for eight years and assists small-but-developing charities in the manner that the foundation’s earliest donors helped it.

This year marks the first time the foundation has been able to issue two of these awards.

Awardees must have operating budgets of less than $250,000, have been in existence for at least three years and provide programming in areas supported by the Acorn Fund – arts and humanities, education, environment and animal welfare, health and fitness, human needs or religion or faith. In addition to program quality, applicants are judged on community impact and improvement in the organization’s finances over a period of years.

HRDC’s initiatives were lauded for returning a sense of community to Washington’s Highland Ridge neighborhood, which has suffered from blight and crime. HRDC’s work assists low-income senior citizens, families, veterans and others. Its Mending Fences program taps volunteers to make repairs and renovations for homeowners in need. It also operates a Staying Green gardening and clean-up program to improve the educational, academic, social and economic climate of its community.

Praising its philanthropic works, WCCF President and CEO Betsie Trew said HRDC drew high marks for its forward thinking in agreeing to undergo an annual audit.

“Such an audit is a valuable management tool for its leadership and is a first step in approaching institutional funding sources and securing larger gifts from individuals,” she said.

Using land trust standards and practices, the Independence Conservancy preserves land in Southwestern Pennsylvania to protect open space, wildlife habitat, natural and cultural resources, scenic views and quality of life. Endeavoring to improve water quality, the nonprofit owns and manages the Abandoned Mine Discharge treatment systems in the Raccoon Creek Watershed, which has its origins in Washington County. The group is working to establish the Langeloth Valley Conservation Area, near Burgettstown, which will permanently preserve 73 acres of woodlands, wetlands and streams south of the former American Zinc & Chemical Co. smelter site.

The conservancy has achieved over $1.5 million of environmental reclamation and land preservation since its founding in 1999. With the help of community partners, land owners and volunteers, the conservancy’s vision is to protect and conserve land in the Raccoon Creek region.

Noting her strong support for conservation and environmental preservation, Trew noted that Independence Conservancy has stepped up to fill a void in land stewardship in Washington County, and that its work to mitigate mine and industrial threats to water supplies “impacts every living creative within the (Raccoon Creek) Watershed.”

For more information about Washington County Community Foundation, visit www.wccf.net.