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Steubenville parks have new fundraising avenue

STEUBENVILLE — Parks and Recreation Director Lori Fetherolf said being a member of the Community Foundation for the Ohio Valley should be a game-changer, funding-wise.

Thanks to a resolution passed by council earlier this week, the department can now accept directed donations for specific facilities or projects, pursue private grants and do fundraisers.

“I learned about parks and recreation foundations at a conference I attended when I first got this job three years ago, and I’ve been working since then to get it off the ground,” Fetherolf said.

“It’s a way to fund the future of parks and recreation. People can give to a park or a project that they like, or they can just give to the department. It’s another outlet to be able to provide things the city normally cannot afford to provide.”

Donations can only be spent for the project the giver intended, she said.

“Another thing it can do, and I really look to start it within the next year, is to be able to provide scholarship assistance for those who can’t afford our programs or to buy pool passes. Through the foundation, we can also raise money to support that. Most of the big metropolitan parks and recreation programs do it. I’m looking forward to starting it here.”

Fetherolf said they’ll also be able to do fund raisers for specific projects,” and that’s where the money would go. “Before the foundation, we weren’t allowed to do that,” she said. “Interest in the parks has grown quite a bit, so I think now is the perfect time to get something like this off the ground.”

First, though, she said she’s going to look for grant opportunities that can help get some of the projects they have on their radar across the finish line, beginning with Beatty Park, where supporters have already banded together to form the Friends of Beatty.

“I’m not leaving out other parks, but there are some specific things that group would like to do with signage, repairing trails, the bridge needing fixed — things like that. Now we can reach out to other avenues to see what funding opportunities are out there.”

Fetherolf said the Friends of Beatty will have its first official meeting in the near future, “and at that time my goal is to get direction on what is their vision for that park and how can we get there. I can see them taking on fundraising to some extent for projects we all agree need to be done. By no means are we leaving out the other parks — Beatty just happens to be the focus at this point. Funding is out there, now we’ll be able to apply for it.”

She pointed out other parks don’t have “friends of” groups set up, which helped set the tone for fund generating opportunities.

“And some of the needs aren’t quite as glaring as the needs we have at Beatty park,” she added.

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