July 3, 2012

DAYTON  – The Sisters of the Precious Blood awarded $489,948 in grants to 51 social service agencies, schools and social programs from the congregation’s Maria Anna Brunner Grant Fund. The grants will support projects in 2012 and 2013.

Founded in 1991 and named in honor of the congregation’s foundress, the fund supports agencies and programs that a Sister of the Precious Blood recommends. The Sister is either very knowledgeable about the program or is actively involved.

This year’s grant amounts range from $1,000 to the maximum of $20,000. The funded agencies are located in areas where Precious Blood Sisters minister including Dayton, Cincinnati and Toledo in Ohio, and California, Michigan, Guatemala and Chile.

Some of the programs funded in 2012 are:

 • Our Lady of Mercy St. Vincent de Paul in Dayton, $10,000 to help cover increased food costs for the food pantry and to increase the amount of rent pledges to $100.

• Carroll High School in Dayton, $15,000 to help pay part of the tuition of 8-12 Carroll students from low-income and/or single parent families.

• Mary Queen of Peace Catholic School in Dayton, $20,000 to be used for scholarships for students from low-income families to offset the cost of their school tuition for the 2012-13 school year.

• St. Bernadine Medical Center Foundation in San Bernardino, Calif., $14,000 to pay for screening mammograms for women who have no insurance to cover the cost and do not have other financial resources.

• Precious Blood Ministry of Reconciliation in Chicago, $15,000 to support the at-risk youth from “Back of the Yards” (Southside Chicago community suffering from gang/gun violence and extreme poverty) to improve their education, develop workplace skills, and help them to become responsible employees.

• Tech-reach at Elder High School in Cincinnati, $10,000 to continue the school’s tech-reach program in which the school shares its technology and educational resources with its neighbors in need.

Sisters of the Precious Blood are asked to recommend agencies and programs for funding each January and applications are due in March. A board of three Sisters of the Precious Blood, three laypeople and a chair, who is a Sister of the Precious  Blood, review the applications and identifies programs for funding. The recommendations are sent to the congregation’s council in May and the funds are distributed in June.

In evaluating applications, the board takes into account the program’s social impact and the impact the funding will have on the applicant’s mission, said Precious Blood Sister Ruth Ann Meyer, current chair of the MAB Grant Fund Board. The money cannot be used for capital improvement or construction projects.

Projects must address one or more of the following: support systemic change; provide service to those who suffer from poverty; create processes that facilitate reconciliation; promote the reduction of violence in society; and empower individuals to take their place in Church and society.

“It’s extremely important to me and to the congregation to support our Sisters who are doing social work and feeding the hungry,” Sister Ruth Ann said. “I want (the grants) to impact how our Sisters are changing the way people live.”