Youth Organizations Receive Grants Totaling More than $25,000

Nineteen area not-for-profits were awarded $26,500 in grants today from the Samantha Otte Youth Opportunity Fund with the Community Foundation Serving West Central Illinois & Northeast Missouri. Friends and family of Samantha Otte gathered at the Quincy YMCA to present grants that will benefit hundreds area of youth for artistic, leadership, and humanitarian efforts.

The Samantha Otte Youth Opportunity Fund has awarded more than $335,000 since it was established in late 2000. The Fund honors Samantha Otte, who died in March 2000 at age 10 after a liver transplant necessitated by cystic fibrosis.

“The YMCA greatly appreciates the continued support of the Samantha Otte Youth Opportunity Fund with the Community Foundation. At the Y, we work every day to enable young people to achieve their full potential, empower people of all ages to lead healthier lives, and strengthen the bonds of community,” said Brandon Dowdy, CEO of the YMCA of West Central Illinois.

The Samantha Otte Youth Opportunity Fund was supported until 2014 by proceeds from the Sammy Fund Weekend. In 2015, the Quincy Breakfast Kiwanis Club announced it would continue a Sammy & Kids Golf Outing and donate a portion of the proceeds to the Community Foundation for continued growth.

"We are grateful to have Samantha’s memory honored through the variety of programs these grants will support. The awards will provide a wide range of opportunities to hundreds of area youth, and we are so appreciative of those who have made it possible,” said June Otte, Samantha’s mother.

Grants were awarded to the following organizations: