More than $18,000 was recently awarded to several worthy causes by the Idaho Community Foundation, a statewide nonprofit organization composed of more than 370 individual funds, pooled together for efficient management.

"The mission of the Idaho Community Foundation is to enrich the quality of life throughout Idaho," said Cathy R. Silak, the foundation's president and chief executive officer. "The grants show the breadth and diversity of the needs in our state and the many situations in which a small grant can make a difference. We are pleased that our generous donors enable us to help a wide cross-section of the people in southwestern Idaho."

The grants ranged from $250 for a new fire pump in Bliss to $5,000 to help refurbish the children's center at the Little Wood River Library District in Carey.

Several organizations in Twin Falls County received an ICF grant. They include $1,785 for the Boys and Girls Club of Magic Valley; $2,000 to help the Buhl Fire Department buy service pagers; $4,167 to Family Health Services for children's dental sealant and education; $4,000 to the Idaho School for the Deaf and the Blind; $2,500 to the Murtaugh Joint School District; $3,000 for the Valley Housing Coalition, and $721 for the YMCA of Twin Falls.

Although the grant money given to the Buhl Fire Department will only purchase four new medical service pagers for firemen that also serve on the city's Quick Response Unit, Fire Chief Earl Tyree said the amount is "significant."

"I applied for four different grants and this is the only one we got," Tyree said. "The last time we bought pagers was in 1984, and they are so antiquated they can't be repaired when they break."

At $500 apiece, the department, which operates on a slim annual budget of $381,000, cannot afford to upgrade all the equipment they would like to.

"This grant will help a lot," Tyree said.

For the money given to the Family Health Services, dentist Adam Hodges said it will make a huge impact.

"We really are going to get a bang for our bucks," Hodges said. "The money will help provide an exam, dental sealants and dental care education for up to 200 kids."

Hodges said the clinic is considering visiting schools on the eastern end of the Magic Valley such as Burley, Rupert and Minidoka. "Nothing is ironed out yet," he said.

The care provided by the clinic plays an essential role in a child's dental health and can keep permanent teeth from decaying, which can be painful and costly to remedy.

"If the molars get cavities, that decay can spread through the teeth very rapidly and by the time the child is nine or 10 may need a root canal," Hodges said. "This grant will help us get to kids that need to see a dentist."

The Idaho Community Foundation was established in 1988 and began funding grants in 1991, when about $164,000 was awarded that year. Since then the foundation has distributed more than $31 million to a variety of projects statewide.

Grants are awarded by its board of directors, primarily on the recommendation of the foundation's Southwestern Region Advisory Panel, comprised of local community leaders who volunteer their service as grant reviewers.

Blair Koch may be reached at 316-2607 or blairkoch@gmail.com.