ECGRA Grants Enrich, Boost Erie County Quality of Place
The Erie County Gaming Revenue Authority (ECGRA) awarded $200,337.88 in 2024 Special Events and $235,383.93 in Community Assets - Arts, Culture, & Heritage Grant Programs today, totaling $435,721.81. The funds will be distributed to 70 nonprofits and municipalities across Erie County.
"ECGRA works by investing in the organizations that preserve and enhance Erie County's incredibly unique culture," said Perry Wood, Executive Director of ECGRA. "These local organizations keep Erie communities and visitors coming together, while fostering a sense of pride and place. These investments simultaneously boost our economic and community energy - keeping Erie the best place we know to live, work, and play."
Asbury Woods, the host of the event, was a recipient in this round of Special Events grants.
"ECGRA's support of Asbury Woods events and trail improvement projects over the years have been instrumental to our mission to connect people to the natural world - Special Events grants have helped us keep several community events free or very low cost to attend," said Jennifer Farrar, Executive Director of Asbury Woods. "Grants towards trails and parks projects have improved a trailhead south of our main entrance, and we are currently working on an ECGRA-funded project to digitize our trail map that will provide real-time location data as you walk the trails and dynamic interpretive information to enhance your visitor experience to Asbury Woods."
"We are grateful for the support to Asbury Woods and the hundreds of organziations and projects ECGRA has supported."
WQLN Public Media , which runs The Chronicles, the immersive documentary series that takes a deep dive into what makes the Lake Erie Region remarkable, both past and present, was a recipient in this round of Arts, Culture, & Heritage grants.
"A multi-facted show like WQLN's Chronicles would not be possible without the support of organizations like ECGRA," said Michael Berlin, WQLN Executive Producer of The Chronicles. "Thanks to ECGRA's contributions, WQLN is able to extend its marketing to various platforms so that we can reach a greater audience and make them aware of the show, while also helping the show's producing team to contract various local talent, so that the show can feature other creatives to help tell the stories and preserve Erie's history.
"Thanks to ECGRA's generosity, Chronicles is capable of paying it forward and provide Erie's artists a space to do what they love while helping to educate about the region we call home."
To view the list of Special Events recipients, click here.
To view the list of Community Assets - Arts, culture, & heritage recipients, click here.
An impact investing organization, ECGRA's mission is to empower the nonprofit sector, municipal governments, and economic development agencies to revitalize Erie County. ECGRA is endowed with local share gaming revenue from the Commmonwealth of Pennsylvania via the Horse Race Gaming Act. Local share gaming revenue is an assessment of the licensed gambling industry in Pennsylvania.
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