Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center provides important services for children. But it can be hard to get the youths physically there to take advantage of those services.

This is one example of the type of hole that, for the past 15 years, the Douglas County Community Foundation has existed to fill.

The foundation on Wednesday announced the recipients of its annual community grants, the largest of which was $15,000 to Bert Nash to help buy a van to transport children and families to the center for therapeutic activities.

“They can actually go get the kids that really need their help,” foundation program officer Marilyn Hull said.

Whether arts or mental health, if it’s an area of the community in need, there’s a good chance it falls beneath the umbrella of the foundation.

“That’s one of the unique aspects of the Community Foundation,” Hull said. “We fund the whole community.”

The late Tensie Oldfather founded the foundation to, as its mission statement says, connect “the diverse citizens and communities of Douglas County, Kan., through charitable action.”

The foundation, online at dccfoundation.org, seeks to improve lives of county residents by building philanthropic relationships and providing good options for donors looking to make contributions.

The annual community grants are awarded on a competitive basis, in which grant-seekers in a variety of categories may apply. The foundation also holds a separate grant competition to fund projects supporting LiveWell Lawrence’s community health goals.

Year-round, the foundation makes grants from other donor-advised, organization, field-of-interest and scholarship funds.

One example is the Jim Carr Memorial Fund for Adoption, in honor of a former Lawrence firefighter and father of two adopted daughters, which provides up to $1,000 to help Douglas County families with the costs of adopting a child. Another is the Fairy Godmother Fund, which gives money to women — identified by one of a number of local social service agencies — with immediate, short-term critical needs not met by traditional funding sources.

In 2014, the foundation awarded 515 grants totaling $2.8 million.

Even through the recession, the foundation has stayed on an upward trajectory that appears poised to continue, foundation Executive Director Chip Blaser said. He said the total amount of grant money has “steadily increased” over time thanks to the number of donors who have gotten involved with the foundation.

Looking ahead, it will be important for the foundation to keep up with that demand.

“I think the growth provides some responsibility to ensure that we are meeting the needs identified by the community and meeting the impacts these donors want to meet,” Blaser said.

Another challenge is simply keeping up with the times.

Fortunately, Hull said, the foundation’s format allows it the flexibility to do so.

For example, the foundation has always been committed to helping children. Some recent grants have purchased new technology such as iPads for use by children who might not otherwise be able to afford them.

“We don’t know what the big issues in the community are going to be 10 years from now or 20 years from now,” Hull said. “But what we do know is that there will be issues, and the community will need resources to respond to them.”

2015 Community Grants from Douglas County Community Foundation

The Douglas County Community Foundation announced on Wednesday the recipients of its annual Community Grants. This year the foundation awarded 37 grants totaling $213,000 to support efforts in the areas of art and culture, youth, community development, education, health, housing and human services.

These are the six largest of this year’s grants. To see a complete list, visit the foundation’s website at dccfoundation.org.

• Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center, $15,000, for a van to transport children accessing Bert Nash services

• Cottonwood Inc., $10,000, for installation of a new specially equipped bathroom

• Heartland Community Health Center, $11,833, for exam room furnishings and equipment

• Kanwaka Fire Department, $10,500, for fire fighting clothing

• USD 491 Eudora School District, $10,000, for student behavior referral system

• Just Food, $10,000, for healthy foods for low-income families