MACON, GA. (July 21, 2011). – The Community Foundation of Central Georgia is pleased to announce the next thirteen projects, totaling $249,806, to enhance College Hill as part of the Knight Neighborhood Challenge, a grant program to fund residents’ best ideas for strengthening a sense of place in the area.

The awards in this fourth round of the challenge range from $966 for a public art project called Positive Postcards, where residents will get to decorate postcards with their hopes for Macon, to $80,000 to improve the streetscape along the College Street side of Tattnall Square Park.  Recipients are both residents of the College Hill area and Macon’s established institutions. They offered ideas to brand the Corridor, improve the exterior of buildings and homes, and continue to build a vibrant arts and cultural scene in College Hill — the geographic area that includes Macon’s first historic neighborhoods and links Mercer University and downtown Macon.

Among the projects are:

• Sidewalk Stories – a creative approach to replace damaged sections of sidewalk and tell the story of Macon’s creative legacy.
• Community Bicycle Program – a program that will offer bicycles to people in need and increase the use of bicycles in the Corridor.

The complete list is below.  The community foundation received 24 applications requesting $407,117.

If you have an idea to improve or enhance the College Hill Corridor, the Community Foundation requests that you send an email to [email protected] to request an appointment to discuss your idea before beginning your application.  The deadlines for the Knight Neighborhood Challenge are changing, and the next deadline will be December 31, 2011.  For more information on this seminar, please call at the Community Foundation at 478-750-9338.  You can also visit our website at www.cfcga.org/knc. 

The Knight Neighborhood Challenge was launched in June 2009 with funding from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. Macon is taking a major step toward revitalizing College Hill with $5 million in grants from the foundation. They include $2 million to Mercer University to form the College Hill Alliance and $3 million to the Community Foundation of Central Georgia to administer the Knight Neighborhood Challenge.   

April 2011 Grantees:

College Street Improvements                           College Hill Alliance                                        $80,000

Lights on Macon – Phase II                              InTown Macon Neighborhood Association      $63,500

Sidewalk Stories                                                Crossroads Creative Group, Inc.                       $29,300

Macon a Difference in the Corridor II              Rebuilding Macon, Inc.                         $25,000

Stars Over the Corridor                                    Museum of Arts and Sciences                          $13,380

Tax Assessment (and Mitigation) Project        College Hill Alliance                                        $10,000

Community Bicycle Program                       Centenary Community Ministries, Inc.               $8,035

Second Sunday Stage Canopy                            College Hill Alliance                                        $6,000

Reduce, Reuse, Grow at the Garden!                  Mark Vanderhoek                                           $5,950

Lawn Care for Vacant Lots                              InTown Macon Neighborhood Association      $3,300

InTown Block Party                                        InTown Macon Neighborhood Association      $2,750

InTown Macon Mobile Website                       InTown Macon Neighborhood Association      $1,625

Positive Postcards – A Public Art Project         Sam Macfie                                                     $966

About Knight Neighborhood Challenge

The Knight Neighborhood Challenge is a broad-based, competitive grant program that funds the best ideas – small and large – that give College Hill a sense of place, spruce up its parks and public spaces or enhance the arts and entertainment scene.  The effort also aims to get residents involved in College Hill through an array of civic and cultural projects.  Successful projects will respond to community needs and opportunities within the five areas identified in the College Hill Alliance Master Plan. They will be programmatic in nature, will have a well-developed plan for sustainability, will involve teamwork, will be citizen-led and will be inclusive. They may not be political or discriminatory.  Guidelines and online applications are available at www.cfcga.org/knc and the next deadline is December 31, 2011.

About Community Foundation of Central Georgia

The Community Foundation of Central Georgia was founded in 1993 by a group of citizens interested in encouraging philanthropy and strengthening communities.  Since then, the foundation has awarded more than $38 million in grants through its donor-advised, unrestricted, designated, field-of-interest, scholarship and organizational endowment funds.  As a local center for philanthropy, the Community Foundation of Central Georgia works with individuals, families, corporations, private foundations and nonprofit organizations to carry out their charitable objectives and address emerging community issues.  It is one of more than 700 community foundations in the country.  

About John S. and James L. Knight Foundation

The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation advances journalism in the digital age and invests in the vitality of communities where the Knight brothers owned newspapers. Knight Foundation focuses on projects that promote informed and engaged communities and lead to transformational change.

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Media Contact:

Julia Wood, Director of Donor Services; Community Foundation of Central Georgia. (478) 750-9338, ext. 105, [email protected]