The Carbon County Community Foundation presented eight grant awards Tuesday afternoon at the Palmerton Borough Hall.

The recipients included:• Zion United Church of Christ, Lehighton - $2,000 for their Feed a Neighbor program• Family Promise of Carbon County, Lehighton - $1,500 for operational expenses for homeless shelter programs• Carbon Chamber and Economic Development Corp., Lehighton - $400 for bringing Junior Achievement to the area• Summit Hill Heritage Center, Summit Hill - $570 for the summer lunch program• Care Net of Carbon County, Lehighton - $1,500 for ultrasound service at its new Nesquehoning office• Operation School Wear, Jim Thorpe - $1,080 for supplies• Lehighton Area Memorial Library, Lehighton - $1,000 toward the replacement of the front doors• Franklin Township Community Park - funding through the Dowd Family Fund provided $10,000 to help with the costs of the revitalization of Phifer Ice Dam Community Park.Rod Green, from the Franklin Township Community Park project, thanked everyone for the grant. He said the recreation fund to revitalize the Phifer Ice Dam Community Park is just getting started. They estimate the total cost of the project will be $150,000. The first phase will be the playground for the children. From there, they plan to create a walking track around the park and eventually exercise machines near the playground for adults to use while the children play. The organization has a GoFundMe page for donations from the community.Representatives from all of the organizations thanked the foundation and gave brief statements about their work, projects and accomplishments. Cindy Stribula, of Operation School Wear, said that since its beginning two years ago, they have helped provide school and work clothing, including suits and business wear, to 3,000 people."We help children go back to school with some dignity," she said. "If you want to go back to work, it's not as easy as just stepping out the door."And Valerie Sellix, from the Lehighton Area Memorial Library, said the grant will go toward the cost of replacing old doors on the building from the 1960s. The estimated total cost is $5,000.The community foundation launched two years ago and presented its first grants last fall, said Tina Dowd, a member of the Founders board. The board intends to provide grants to area charities in the fall and spring each year. The first round of grants was a total of $7,500. This second round provided a total of $8,000."This is something Carbon County has needed for a long time," Dowd said.The founding members were familiar with the Luzerne Foundation, she said. With their guidance, the Carbon County Community Foundation was created."Let's duplicate what they did," Dowd said.The Luzerne Foundation started 23 years ago with 10 members and has been able to provide $115 million is grants in that time. Dowd hopes that the new local organization will be able to grow and provide in the same way. She said anyone in the community who would like to make a donation to the community foundation is welcome."We're looking for more Founders. Any size donor. It doesn't have to be a giant amount of money," she said.To donate, go to

www.cccfoundpa.org. Churches and charities that would like to apply for a grant can access an application on the website. The next round of grants will be announced in the fall. Founders member Chris Anthony encouraged all of those organizations in need of funds for specific projects to apply."Really flood our grant cycle with applicants to make it tough to decide which projects to fund," he said.The Carbon County Community Foundation also plans to host a free grant writing workshop in the fall. More information will be available on its website.