Warwick agencies receive $1M in Champlin grants

Children and their parents who use the Warwick Public Library are in for a surprise come February. What might that be?

“I don’t want to give it away,” library director Christopher LaRoux said Wednesday.

But LaRoux offered some clues. It’s going to be the carpeting in the Children’s Room and it’s going to be different from anything else in libraries across the state.

LaRoux used the word “art,” adding, “We have an artistic staff here.”

What’s more, this innovation comes to Warwick thanks to the Champlin Foundations. The Champlin Foundations announced Wednesday it has awarded $18.1 million in grants to 175 non-profit institutions this year. The grant going to the Warwick Library is for $78,000 and, according to LaRoux, will complete the third and final step in improvements to the Children’s Room that were also funded by Champlin.

By no means is the library the only recipient of a Champlin grant this year. Eight other Warwick organizations received grants, the largest being $301,875 to the Community College of Rhode Island, to equip eight active learning classrooms at the college’s four campuses. Grants to Warwick non-profits totaled $1,048,915.

Long a recipient of Champlin largesse, the Warwick Boys & Girls Club was awarded $204,000, which is being used for its new club at the former Cooper Armory on Sandy Lane aimed at providing a safe after school learning and socializing space for middle school students. In addition, some of the grant will be used for camperships.

Champlin grants have played a major role in the development of the Boys and Girls Club, helping underwrite major capital projects, including the construction of the Norwood and Oakland Beach clubhouses.

“They made the difference, they helped make it all happen and they will ultimately change the lives of those kids,” Boys and Girls Club executive director Lara D’Antuono said of the $204,000 allocated to the Cooper building.

“We’re a primary source of capital funding in the state,” said Champlin Foundations Executive Director Keith H. Lang in an interview.

Unlike many other philanthropic organizations, Champlin Foundations funds what are considered brick and mortar projects or capital improvements. Overall, said Lang, Champlin was able to make more in grants this year than it did last year in part because of the stock market’s performance. Still, the requests for grants outdistanced the available funds by about $2.50 for every $1 in actual grants.

Out of the 175 grants awarded, 19 went to first time recipients, Lang said. Grants are categorized as driving advancement in healthcare, education, workforce development, social and youth services, historical preservation and the arts. Capital projects over the spectrum of award recipients are aimed at fostering better medical care, improving education, expanding access to social services, conserving open spaces, preserving historic buildings, enriching the arts and advancing animal welfare.

LaRoux said that Champlin support over the years has enabled libraries across the state to advance. He said grants funded the computerization of libraries and the development of a shared system statewide. He pointed out that, in other states, the taxpayers picked up the tab.

Other Warwick-based non-profits receiving grants and grant amounts are the Girl Scouts of Southeastern New England, $61,880 for building repairs at Camp Hoffman and pool repairs at Camp Promising Acres; Insight, $22,520 for a Tobi Pro Eye Tracking instrument to improve pediatric low vision assessments; Ocean State Animal Coalition, $38,000 for a box truck to transport animals to a spay/neuter clinic; Ocean State Libraries, $189,140 for technology upgrades and for furnishings and equipment for its meeting/training room; Sargent Rehabilitation Center, $125,000 for center improvements and the Steamship Historical Society of America, $19,500 for restoration of 24 ship models.

Since its founding in 1932, the Foundation has awarded more than $569 million, with $10 million of that for Warwick organizations.

As for improvements to the Children’s Room at the library, LaRoux said the library would be advertising for bids next month and that he thought the work could be completed over the course of a long weekend in February.

LaRoux already has an idea of what the library could request in 2018. He pointed out that use of the library keeps changing and there is an increasing demand for meeting rooms.

No, he’s not thinking of an addition. Rather, he said, he is investigating the use of glass partitions to create rooms to accommodate 20 to 25 people.