NNY Community Foundation’s Rock Charitable Fund supports 11 St. Lawrence County nonprofits

WATERTOWN — The Northern New York (NNY) Community Foundation in early April announced that 11 nonprofit organizations serving St. Lawrence County residents will share $148,460 in grant funding from its Rock Charitable Fund to preserve local history and maintain churches and cemeteries in the region.

The legacy fund was established at the Community Foundation in 2019 through a bequest from St. Lawrence County resident and retired U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel Marjorie J. Rock, who passed away in February 2017 at age 96. “Marjorie’s legacy continues to have a profound impact, ensuring that St. Lawrence County’s history, heritage, and community spaces are preserved for future generations,” Kraig Everard, the NNY Community Foundation’s director of philanthropy, said in the announcement. “Through support for these important projects, we honor her generosity and her deep connection to the place she called home.”  The following 11 St. Lawrence County organizations will share $148,460 in grant support: • Notre Dame Catholic Church, Ogdensburg — $36,500 to support the restoration of a highly visible large stained-glass transept window. • Unitarian Universalist Church of Canton — $25,040 to help replace two heating systems. Capital-reserve funding will cover up to 50 percent of the project. • Bayside Cemetery Association — $20,000 to help restore an urn-bearing tower adjacent to the cemetery’s gatehouse building. This project provides for the restoration and stabilization of the sandstone gates and towers of the entrance to preserve this cultural and historic legacy. • Clark-Robinson American Legion Post 68, Norwood — $16,133 to complete a floor-replacement project. Grant funding will support half the project budget while the Sons of the American Legion and the Legion’s Auxiliary will cover remaining costs. • St. Olympia Orthodox Church, Norwood — $20,814 to support a restoration project and complete a facility assessment. Grant funding will help restore ceilings and walls in a side room and foyers. The total grant award includes up to $6,000 to consult with a preservation architect to create a preservation and restoration plan. • Frederic Remington Art Museum, Ogdensburg — $10,587 to help replace the gift shop window, the largest window in the museum, which has deteriorated due to wood rot and other weather-related damage. • Pierrepont Hill Cemetery Association — $6,533 to support planting Green Mountain Boxwoods along the north and east border of the property that will serve as a more aesthetically pleasing boundary. • Town of Waddington — $5,680 to help conduct a building-condition assessment for the old Waddington Town Hall. Town officials plan to use the assessment as support for future funding applications that would seek repairs to preserve this historic building. • Flackville Cemetery Association, Lisbon — $2,900 to help purchase top soil, grass seed, crusher run for driveway, tree removal, and monument work. The Cemetery Association and its cadre of volunteers are working to maintain the property for the benefit of the community it serves. • United Methodist Church of Norwood — $2,600 to help stop rainwater runoff from further damaging the church’s historic steeple. As part of an ongoing capital-improvement project, immediate support is needed to preserve the historic steeple. • Purmort Cemetery Corporation, Heuvelton — $1,673 to help remove a large dying maple tree and repair a large headstone in danger of toppling. The Town of Depeyster recently increased its support of the cemetery. Since the Rock Charitable Fund began grantmaking efforts in 2019, it has awarded nearly $705,000 in grant funding to support 43 projects at 39 St. Lawrence County organizations, including churches, cemeteries, places of historical significance, and those supporting veterans of the U.S. military.