Akron, Ohio Foundation Gives Grant to Planned Parenthood
by Paul Nowak
LifeNews.com Staff Writer
June 15, 2004
Akron, OH (LifeNews.com) — The Medina County Community Fund gave a grant to a local Planned Parenthood affiliate in its latest grant cycle.
Area pro-life leaders were upset by the support for the national abortion business and dismayed that a local pregnancy center has been turned down for grants in each of the last two years.
The fund, an endowment of the Akron community Foundation, gave $3,170 to the Planned Parenthood of Summit, Portage and Medina Counties to purchase five new phone sets for its Medina Health Center office.
"This is what happens when those who do not share the values of the community
work their way into places of power within local charities," Don Oppihle, President of Right to Life of Summit County told LifeNews.com. "In Akron they have worked their way into United Way of Summit County, Akron Community Foundation, and Akron Golf Charities. All of these agencies continue to support Planned Parenthood."
Marie Mirro, chair of the Medina County Community Fund’s distribution committee, told LifeNews.com that any non-profit organization is eligible to request funding, provided the money is not used for endowment purposes, scholarships (includes tuition), individuals, religious organizations for religious purposes, organizations outside of Medina County, capital campaigns or deficits.
"Our committee reviewed the Planned Parenthood application and agreed that this organization provides many important services to Medina county residents, including providing professional healthcare, patient education, exams, laboratory testing and contraceptive services and supplies," explained Mirro.
"In fact, the Akron Community Foundation has made grants to Planned Parenthood in the past for educational programs which promote abstinence and safe sex," Mirro added. "Our committee was impressed by the number of phone calls received per day by the Medina site — 140-150 per day, and felt this grant would aid the organization in efficiently helping their customers."
Oppihle pointed out that while the local Planned Parenthood facilities do not perform abortions themselves, they refer women to area abortion businesses.
"Summit County has more than 4000 abortions annually. Although Planned Parenthood only refers for abortions locally instead of committing them, they are committed to abortion just as much as their parent organization," said Oppihle.
"It is a crime that these charitable funds are wasted on building up Planned Parenthood’s surplus stock fund when other needs are not addressed."
Betty Barlow, Executive Director of Oaks Family Care Center in Medina County told LifeNews.com that they had not applied for a grant this year, as they had been turned down by the Community Fund the two previous years. They have, however, received grants from the Community Fund before that.
"Grant writing is a difficult process," said Barlow, explaining that they have been successful in the past, and helped other organizations learn the process.
Oaks Family Care Center provides a number of services to the public, beyond pregnancy assistance, such as a teen coffeehouse, abstinence education, and family counseling.
Related Sites:
Medina County Fund – https://www.akroncommunityfdn.org/cgi-bin/displayContent.pl?type=section&id=60
Oaks Family Care Center – https://www.oaks-family-care.org
