For Immediate Release - Jan. 26, 2016

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK - The trustees of the Kirschner Trusts Affiliated Fund are pleased to announce that a total of $332,905 in grants have recently been awarded to 67 nonprofit organizations. The Kirschner Trusts Affiliated Fund is administered by the Oklahoma City Community Foundation.

The grants are supporting projects and general operating expenses at nonprofits in the following focus areas: animal welfare, arts and humanities, community development, civil liberty advocacy, education, environment, health services, Jewish organizations, social services and youth.

Many of the grants are awarded to nonprofit organizations in or near Muskogee, Okla. Phil and Roberta Kirschner were quiet philanthropists, focusing much of their charitable giving on organizations in and around Muskogee, the community they called home. Five trusts were established through Phil's estate upon his death in 1981. For more than 30 years, Roberta's daughter, Miriam Freedman, administered the trusts. In 2013, she transferred the trusts' assets to the Oklahoma City Community Foundation to establish a permanent endowment fund.

Below are highlights of several of the grants. While 34 of the grants were awarded to nonprofits located in Muskogee and northeast Oklahoma, grants were also awarded to eight Tulsa-based organizations, 11 based in Oklahoma City and 14 located throughout the United States. To see a complete list of the grants, please click here.

Five Civilized Tribes Museum -- $5,000 to support four major American Indian art shows at the museum located in Muskogee, Okla.

Friends of Eddie Warrior -- $30,000 to help provide college classes and textbooks for qualified indigent, incarcerated women at the Eddie Warrior Correctional Facility in Taft, Okla.

Muskogee Public Library -- $3,000 to support the "Books for Children" program that distributes books to low-income families.

OSU Institute of Technology -- $10,000 to purchase 3-D gait analysis system for the school's Orthotic and Prosthetic Technologies program.  

Tulsa Day Center for the Homeless -- $5,000 to purchase beds and linens for the new homes of formerly homeless people.

Special Care -- $4,000 to support an additional preschool classroom for children with special needs at the school located in Oklahoma City.

Oklahoma Foundation for the Disabled -- $10,000 to provide scholarships for adult day health services to clients in need at the Oklahoma City-based nonprofit.
 
Jewish Children's Regional Service -- $50,000 to continue support of programs including undergraduate college aid, Jewish summer camp scholarships and assistance to families with children with special needs.

To learn more about the Kirschner Trusts Affiliated Fund, please visit www.occf.org/kirschner or contact Jana Steelman at j.steelman@occf.org or 405/606-2941.