Each year, Impact 100 awards every penny of membership funds in grants to local nonprofits. On April 10th, the membership of Impact 100 held their vote to select the winners of this year’s award of four $100,000 grants.

The four winners chosen Thursday evening at the 2014 Annual Meeting include:

ORCA (Education) – This grant is for the development of a Marine Science Education Network. A team of Indian River County educators will be recruited to develop an internet-based curriculum within the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) educational framework. Active learning modules, video-based virtual field trips and laboratory exercises will enable students to access and analyze data from ORCA’s Kilroy database, which records water quality in the Indian River Lagoon – training students to be true citizen scientists. A dedicated website will allow access to all curriculum modules by students in Indian River County and beyond. Contact: Dr. Edith Widder, Executive Director; 772-467-1600

INDIAN RIVER CHARTER HIGH SCHOOL (Enrichment & Environment) – The IRCHS grant will retrofit their outdoor venue to create a versatile performance space for the Charter family and community to enjoy. The space, formerly an uncovered courtyard and now sheltered by their dome-like canopy structure, will be enhanced to include a motorized weather resistant mesh to enclose all sides providing protection from the weather for performers, instruments and the audience. The grant will also provide a high-definition projector for performance and presentation purposes, as well as much needed seating. Contact: Gene Waddell, Board Chair; 772-559-2222

FLORIDA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY (FIT) (Health & Wellness) – FIT will use their grant money to establish a center for autism in Vero Beach. It is their hope to begin treating young patients as early as possible to increase the percentage of children who recover from the symptoms of autism and related disorders. FIT operates an established autism center at the Scott Center in Melbourne; this grant will allow an expansion into IR County, where resources for autistic children are currently nonexistent. Referrals will come from the Indian River County School District, Sunshine Physical Therapy, pediatricians, and other community-based providers. Contact: Dr. Anthony Catanese, President & CEO; 321-674-7232

SHINING LIGHT GARDEN FOUNDATION, INC. (Health & Wellness) – This organization grows and donates first quality, fresh, farm-to-table vegetables within 24 hours of harvest to those in need… the homeless, hungry and forgotten. The grant will provide equipment that would be used to increase production by 50%. Another 20 acres have been leased adding to the 30 acres now worked by a group of volunteers who farm the land. The current level of poverty in IRC is 13.9%; for those under 18 years of age, the amount is even more dramatic at 23%. Shining Light Garden donates all its crops to local organizations which feed the needy, including the IR Food Pantry, Hibiscus Children’s Center and St. Francis Manor. Contact: Greg Vafiades, Board Chair; 772-532-8777

In addition, the following three nonprofits will split the remaining amount, allowing them each to receive $11,000.

• Sebastian Charter Junior High School
• Pelican Island Audubon Society
• Old Vero Ice Age

“The grant process began last August when all local nonprofits were invited to attend the Impact 100 grant training session. Applications were submitted and the agency mentoring process continued into the fall,” explains President Linda Knoll. “The grants awarded by Impact 100 are for transformational, high-impact projects.”

“The fact that we are maintaining a membership of over 400 members enables us to continue to award four $100,000 grants to our community.” explains Knoll. “We have learned in the past that even the nonprofits who receive the runner-up grants are often able to use the funds as seed money for bigger projects. Thanks to the efforts of our members this year, and in the previous five years, we have the privilege of distributing a total of over $2 million since Impact 100’s inception. This is a tribute to the women of Indian River County.”

Find out more about Impact 100 by visiting www.impact100ir.com or on Facebook, or on www.youtube.com.