Seven from Sakonnet benefit from Champlin generosity

Seven Sakonnet area organizations are among 175 non-profits to share $18.1 million in grants awarded this year by the Champlin Foundation.

Local recipients are:

• Friends of the Little Compton Wellness Center — $31,400 for a new parking lot at their 115 East Main Road facility.

• Tiverton Library Foundation — $16,000 toward the cost of a permanent community art exhibit to be displayed as murals in the lobby and children’s room.

• Greater Tiverton Community Chorus —$3,510 for a new sound system.

• Common Fence Point Improvement Association, Portsmouth — $94,000 in code compliance improvements to be matched by state funds to allow for the expansion of the community hall into an arts center for Portsmouth and surrounding communities.

• Visiting Nurse Home & Hospice — $20,855 for tablets to be used for tele-health patient home monitoring.

• Portsmouth Free Public Library — $18,800 for a new septic system.

• Portsmouth United Methodist Church — $13,300 toward the cost of restoring the church bell.

Since its founding it 1932, the foundation has awarded more than $569 million to fund capital projects in Rhode Island to foster better medical care, improve education, expand access to social services, conserve open spaces, preserve historic buildings, enrich the arts and advance animal welfare.

In addition to the $18.1 million in grants, $400,000 was provided earlier this year to allow hundreds of underprivileged Rhode Island youth attend summer camps. This year’s awardees include 20 first time recipients that collectively received $1,442,945 in Champlin Foundation funding.