Our Community Partnerships
The Defiance Area Foundation has been serving communities within Defiance County for over 40 years. In this time, the Defiance Area Foundation has been able to touch thousands of lives of families residing within Defiance, Hicksville, Ney and Sherwood Ohio through many different funds, meeting a variety of needs.
Being able to “bridge the communities” within Defiance County is very important to us. By providing a vehicle for community partnerships such as the Defiance County Fairgrounds grandstand project, or the Veteran’s Memorial Park, the Defiance Area Foundation is able to bring people together and make our communities stronger.
Women's Giving Circle
The Mission of the Women’s Giving Circle (WGC) is to support projects and programs that impact the lives of women and children through education, direct partnerships, and partnering with other organizations. The WGC is a partnership between the Defiance Area Foundation and the United Way of Defiance County. Members pay $1 per day – $365 per year – to support Defiance County initiatives. Donations to the fund benefit our local community annually, while 25% of your gift is endowed to leave a legacy for future generations. Since inception in 2011, the WGC has granted over $214,130 to benefit women and children in our community. The WGC has reached a milestone and is 100 women strong! The purpose of the WGC is to cultivate women as philanthropic leaders and to educate, inspire and assist women to become leaders, well-informed, self-sufficient, and contributing members of society. APPLY TODAY
Clothes for Kids
The Clothes for Kids mission is to provide elementary age school children that are from financially challenged homes, with new athletic shoes and a new “Back to School Outfit” so children can feel good about themselves and their appearance. This program was founded in 2017 by one of our lifelong community supporters – Sharon Farrell. From serving a handful of students at one local school, we are now helping to clothe students from all schools in the Defiance County area. All clothing is new (no used clothes) and each child selected to participate has been chosen
by their school and remains anonymous. Get involved by emailing deficlothesforkids@gmail.com.
The Sherwood Community Fund
The Sherwood Community Fund committee continues to work hard to raise gifts and award grants specifically for the Sherwood community.
The Hicksville Community Fund
Established in 2011, the Mission of the fund is, through grants, to financially support initiatives that make Hicksville a great place to live, work, have a business, and visit.
