The Mantua-Shalersville Area Chamber of Commerce and the Portage Foundation are looking for volunteers. They need community help in setting up a new grant program to help support community projects within the Crestwood geographic area.
According to Randy Ellis, President of the Mantua-Shalersville Chamber of Commerce, the proposed fund will serve as a hub for local charitable donations gathered by businesses and individuals in Mantua, Shalersville, and Hiram Villages and Townships.
It will be like the Aurora One Fund, an organization that began providing financial assistance to community groups and programs in 1974. According to Ellis, the proposed Crestwood community fund would work in essentially the same way, where area businesses and individuals contribute their charitable donations to one fund and potential recipients would have one place to request necessary funding.
Instead of fielding multiple financial requests from local groups, business owners would be better able to plan and budget for charitable donations over the course of a year. The fund would also allow individuals wishing to support local causes to contribute. In addition, the fundraising process would be simplified for organizations, as student groups and local organizations would no longer be required to visit each business and ask for donations for programs or fundraisers. They would simply fill out an application to submit their request for consideration to the fund’s advisory board. The fund’s advisory board would be comprised of local community members tasked to review funding applications and ascertaining which they would like to support.
The Portage Foundation would serve as the fund’s fiscal agent. Janice Simmons-Mortimer, Executive Director of the Portage Foundation, explained, “Simply put, the Portage Foundation would receive, manage, and acknowledge donations on behave of the fund. Portage Foundation would be responsible for financial tracking, legal compliance, and tax management for the proposed fund as well.” She concluded, “It’s important to note that while the fund would be housed at the Portage Foundation, it would be operated under the oversights of an Advisory Board from the community.”
To learn more, and potentially help shape the direction of this proposed fund, plan to attend an informational meeting on Thursday, May 28th at 6:30 pm at Martin Hura Lodge at Buchert Park in Mantua. At that meeting, a planning/organizational committee will be formed. Then, over the next few months, that committee will help craft the by-laws, determine what type of requests the fund will support, and help select the fund’s advisory board. Ellis noted that being involved in planning doesn’t require you to be involved long-term.
“Ideally, we’d like to set up a diverse board that represents the community, he noted. “We’d like representation not only from local business leaders, but non-profits, churches, students, and residents on the advisory board. Then, once board members are selected, the real work begins – soliciting contributions, then accepting requests and disbursing the funds to worthy groups throughout the villages and Townships in the Crestwood area. It is hoped to have the Advisory Board appointed in the fall so that the fund may begin providing grants in early 2027.
If you’d like to learn more, or to lend your perspective to this community-focused effort, plan to attend the meeting at Buchert Park on Thursday, May 28th at 6:30 pm. The meeting takes place after the Chamber of Commerce meeting, which starts at 5:30 pm. Residents are encouraged to attend the Chamber meeting to meet the 2026 Chamber of Commerce scholarship winners and hear the latest updates about upcoming events with local businesses.
For more information, contact Ellis at msacoc@gmail.com or Simmons-Mortimer at jsmortimer@portagefoundation.org.
