Hermitage High’s booster club gets $2,040

Hermitage High School's athletic booster club has received $2,040 from Richmond Ford and Ford Motor Co. from a recent Drive One 4 UR School event. By test-driving a car, 102 people raised $20 apiece for the school.

During the past two years, Ford has provided more than $1.3 million to high schools that have participated in the program.

. . .

Celebrating five years of giving, the Cameron Foundation awarded nearly $1.3 million in its latest cycle of grants to 24 local nonprofits serving the Tri-Cities and Southside Virginia.

Since it began making grants in October 2004, the foundation has awarded about $30.5 million to benefit its service area. The total for this year is $5,303,410.

October grantees include:

Appomattox Regional Library: $215,400 for the Southside Community Partners program to develop and strengthen the nonprofit sector.

Better Housing Coalition: $220,000

Big Brothers Big Sisters Services Inc.: $35,085

CARES Inc.: $40,000

Dinwiddie Department of Social Services: $10,000

District 19 Community Services Board: $60,000

Equal Justice America: $10,000

Foster Grandparent Program: $25,000

Gateway Homes Inc.: $25,000

Hopewell-Prince George Healthy Families: $31,500

Instructive Visiting Nurse Association: $30,000

InterFaith Adult Day Care Inc.: $3,600

The James House: $67,400

Legal Aid Justice Center: $120,000

Partnership for People with Disabilities: $25,000

The Read Center: $38,800

Serenity Inc.: $73,780

Southside Virginia Emergency Crew Inc.: $75,000

St. John Child Development Center - St. John Baptist Church: $15,000

Sussex Central High School PTSA: $28,000

Theatre IV: $17,000

United Way of Greater Richmond & Petersburg: $73,300

Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center Foundation: $10,070

Virginia Supportive Housing: $40,000

Get information at http://www.camfound.org or (804) 732-8900.

. . .

Altria recently awarded $40,000 grants to two local arts-education groups: ART 180 and SPARC (School of the Performing Arts in the Richmond Community).

ART 180 brings after-school programs to middle school students in low-income communities. The grant supports a 12-week after-school program using art to teach ways to positively engage in the community and develop skills for the future. SPARC will use the grant to expand its STAGES program to include more than 1,500 students at Richmond elementary schools and after-school programs.

. . .

The annual Run to the River Oct. 17 from Fulton Hill through Rocketts Landing raised $30,000 for the Fulton Hill Neighborhood Resource Center.

Liz Cramer was this year's top "fundrunner" with a $1,000 contribution.

The Neighborhood Resource Center, where the run begins and ends, supports the community with a Montessori Preschool, after-school tutoring and art programs, adult-education classes, job search support and other services.

Contact Katherine Calos at (804) 649-6433 or .