The Suffolk Foundation made its annual grant distributions totaling $136,500 to 32 nonprofit agencies on Wednesday at the Hilton Garden Inn Suffolk Riverfront.

Since the Foundation received its nonprofit community foundation status in October 2007, it has awarded more than $4.2 million in unrestricted and donor-advised grants and scholarships. The foundation funded agencies seeking support in areas including cultural arts, education, environment, health and human need. As the invested funds continue to grow, the board anticipates being able to support more agencies, and a diversity of needs, with more funds.

The 2017 Suffolk Foundation grant recipients were:

• Access College Foundation — $5,000 to provide operating support of the ACCESS program in the Suffolk public high schools and in two Suffolk public middle schools, as well as the colleges Suffolk public school students are attending.
• American Red Cross of Coastal Virginia — $2,500 to support American Red Cross direct disaster services such as food, shelter, clothing and medications to those affected by home fires and other disasters in Suffolk.
• Boys & Girls Clubs of Southeast Virginia — $3,500 to help support a tutoring program for 30 Suffolk students.
• Chesapeake Bay Foundation — $2,500 to help support environmental science training for Suffolk Public Schools teachers.
• Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters — $7,500 to help support CHKD’s Child Abuse Program by providing medical, mental health and forensic services to children suspected of being abused and neglected.
• Coalition Against Poverty in Suffolk — $5,000 to help homeless families to secure sustainable, long-term housing, through the Permanent Housing for the Homeless Fund.
• Communities in Schools of Hampton Roads — $1,000 to support the coordination of non-academic services for at-risk students in Elephant’s Fork Elementary School.
• Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia — $5,000 to help support the Backpack Program in Suffolk public elementary schools, which provides food-insecure children with nutritious food on weekends and school vacations.
• ForKids — $5,000 to help provide critical education services for homeless students in Western Tidewater by funding materials, supplies and transportation for ForKids education programs.
• Girls on the Run of Hampton Roads — $2,500 to help support a health and wellness program for girls in four Suffolk Title 1 elementary schools.
• Girl Scouts of the Colonial Coast — $5,000 to support STEM programming for girls in grades K-12 living in Suffolk.
• Healthy Suffolk — $2,500 to support the Suffolk Moves program, which encourages healthy behaviors through an active lifestyle.
• Nansemond River Preservation Alliance — $5,000 to help support The Nansemond Watershed Initiative Community and School Environmental Education Program, which encourages environmental stewardship (fully funded by a grant from the Richard F. III and Carolyn Barry Donor Advised Fund).
• Nansemond-Suffolk Academy — $5,000 to support the purchase of life-saving Automated External Defibrillators.
• Riddick’s Folly — $2,500 to help support the House Museum education programs.
• Senior Services of Southeastern Virginia — $5,000 to improve access to medical care by providing transportation to medical appointments for Suffolk senior citizens and persons with disabilities.
• Special Olympics Virginia — Area 29 Suffolk — $2,000 to assist in funding the cost incurred for three major events: the Suffolk Games, Summer Games and Fall Championships.
• Suffolk Art League —$2,000 to help fund professional visiting artist workshops in four Suffolk high schools and six Suffolk middle schools and allow for fourth- and fifth-grade Talented Art students to tour the Suffolk Art Gallery and participate in a hands-on workshop.
• Suffolk Center for Cultural Arts — $7,500 to help support the SCCA’s Student Matinees, Artists in Schools Program and youth art education initiatives.
• Suffolk Family YMCA — $5,000 to help address Suffolk’s child care crisis by assisting 35 low-income children to attend an after-school program and providing 10 children with a week of summer camp.
• Suffolk Literacy Council — $3,000 to help support the Tutor Support and English Language Learner Development Project.
• Suffolk Meals on Wheels — $6,000 to help support funding for meals for 16 need-based recipients in the underserved areas of Suffolk and Isle of Wight.
• Suffolk Youth Athletic Association — $5,000 to support the purchase of field lighting for the SYAA soccer complex.
• The Children’s Center — $2,500 to support the purchase of Android tablets for a pilot project at the Suffolk Head Start Center.
• The Genieve Shelter — $5,000 to support emergency shelter, transportation, food and 24-hour crisis intervention for domestic violence survivors.
• The Salvation Army, Suffolk Corps — $7,500 to help support the basic needs programs and community center programs of the Salvation Army and the Robert Harrell Physical Health and Education Center.
• The Suffolk Cheer Fund — $2,500 to help provide toys to needy Suffolk children at Christmas.
• The Up Center — $2,500 to help support outpatient counseling services for 468 individuals in Suffolk and the surrounding areas by providing Trauma Informed Care Services.
• United Way/United for Children — $7,500 to help support the Suffolk Public Schools “LEAP” and “LAUNCH” summer school programs for 1,000 Title I at-risk students in kindergarten through eighth grades.
• Virginia Legal Aid Society — $5,000 to help support the “Strengthening Families with Children” program, which incorporates legal advice and representation to strengthen low-income families.
• Western Tidewater Free Clinic — $7,500 to help provide dentures to 50 Suffolk patients to improve their overall health, self-esteem and employability.
• Western Tidewater Virginia Heritage — $1,500 to support the creation of a documentary about the history and importance of the peanut in southeastern Virginia.