"We've got such a diverse range of projects, everything from domestic violence through to young people in school learning about what it means to be a driver through to men's sheds through to cultural, social, and climate change issues," says Robert Ryan, CEO of IMB Bank in Australia, which has given out more than $12 million in grants to not-for-profits since 1999.
Among this year's recipients, per the Illawarra Mercury: the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute, which has received grants for 12 years to conduct health checks on more than 10,000 people.
"Well over 5,000 of those people have been referred, who have heart problems or early heart disease that would not have known, and then that can be prevented," Ryan says.
Another recipient, Escabags, which provides free escape bags for families and individuals fleeing domestic abuse in Australia, says a grant from the bank will help it buy safety alarms and "little mini first-aid kits," per the Mercury.
"Because they are grassroots, we can actually see the difference that they're making, they're hitting thousands of lives," Ryan says.
A customized collection of grant news from foundations and the federal government from around the Web.
With Mealshare, every meal purchased at a restaurant, one gets shared with a person in need of food. This concept was hatched by two entrepreneurs, cousins Jeremy Bryant and Andrew Hall.