Cincinnati, Ohio, September 2, 2026 – The Charles H. Dater Foundation awarded 24 grants in July and August totaling $1,020,000, including a $250,000 award to the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden for its $18 million Giraffe Tower expansion project that will create a significantly larger habitat for the Maasai giraffe herd, zebras ands okapi near the zoo’s main entrance.

Giraffe Tower will create a significantly larger habitat for the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden’s Maasai giraffe herd, zebras and okapi, near the Zoo’s main entrance. Centered around the historic domed Elephant House, built in 1905, Giraffe Tower will provide exceptional animal care and herd growth opportunities, and will offer visitors an immediate and inspiring wildlife experience upon arrival, featuring spectacular views of one of the Zoo’s most beloved species.

The Foundation concluded its 2026 fiscal year in August, making 155 grants totaling $6,160,000, the largest annual amount ever awarded.  Since its inception in 1984, the Foundation has made 4,075 grants totaling $88, 926,446.

Grants made in July:

Art Academy of Cincinnati, $25,000. The Artist & Writer in Residence program provides free quality instruction in the visual and literary arts at 12 schools to over 2,500 students in grades 7-12. 

Churches Active in Northside (CAIN), $25,000. The Market at CAIN food pantry provides healthy and nutritious food, personal care items, household cleaning supplies, and other necessities to over 2,500 households in the area.  Open three times a week, the pantry serves as an oasis in the 45223 food desert and surrounding areas. 

Cincinnati Observatory Center, $50,000.   A Youth Outreach Program reaches more than 14,000 students annually who visit on school field trips or at other times throughout the year.  In addition, a portion of this year’s grant will support a renovation project that will significantly expand exhibit space and allow for increased usage.

Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden, $250,000.  See above.

Circle Tail, $30,000.  A therapy dog program raises and trains dogs for two years and then places them in schools to assist with therapeutic interventions and provide overall benefits to students as well as staff.  Fourteen dogs were placed last year.

CISV Cincinnati, $15,000.  Two delegates and an adult supervisor from 12 countries attend

Step Up international camps that inspire 14- and 15-year-old young people to imagine a more just and peaceful world. 

Civic Garden Center, $30,000.  The Youth Education Program enables young people to foster an appreciation and respect for nature and the environment, understand where food comes from, and engage in healthy, outside activity.  Offsite programs at schools and during the summer at community gardens as well as a Growing Our Teachers Project are outreach components of the program.  

Community Matters, $25,000.  The Education Forward program provides wraparound support to empower lifelong learners in Lower Price Hill.  More than 1,000 participants have earned high school equivalent degrees through this unique educational model.  

Companions On A Journey, $25,000.  A monthly school-based grief support program helps more than 1,000 K-12 students at 64 schools who have experienced a loss express their emotions and connect with peers. 

Family Nurturing Center, $30,000.  Kids on the Block, Child Safety Matters and Teen Safety Matters are school-based prevention programs that equip children and teens with the knowledge and tools they need to stay safe and build healthy relationships.  The free program reaches about 7,500 students annually.

First Tee of Greater Cincinnati & Northern Kentucky. $25,000.  Meeting Kids Where They Are is about using golf to build pathways to youth development through a three pronged approach: community outreach, school programming and green grass programming.  

Found House Interfaith Housing Network, $30,000.  Family Emergency Shelter combines community support with professional services to provide emergency shelter to families experiencing homelessness.  A family’s average length of stay is about 70 days and includes overnight shelter, three meals a day, and a case plan to transition to permanent housing.

Girl Scouts of Western Ohio, $25,000.  Support Healthy Girls Cincinnati offers leadership experiences, the chance to get outdoors, and a balanced STEAM education to girls from every background.  More than 12,000 Cincinnati area girls participate.  

Junior Achievement of OKI Partners, $30,000.  Adult volunteers participate in training and then take Junior Achievement’s time-tested financial and life success programs into classrooms, working with teachers in elementary, middle, and high schools to reach nearly 40,000 students with financial literacy, career readiness and entrepreneurship education. 

Karen Carns Foundation, $30,000.  Coats for Kids provides about 2,000 winter coats to young people in need while strengthening the bond between teachers and the students they have nominated to receive a coat.

Library Foundation of Cincinnati & Hamilton Country, $75,000.  The Homework Helpers program provides free help to students in Grades K-8 at targeted locations across the Library’s system.  During the school year the program assists students with homework help and skill-building coaching on any subject.  During the summer, learning and mentoring are offered to those in need of enrichment support.  

Matthew 25 Ministries, $35,000.  The local fresh food program coordinates a collaboration of corporate in-kind product donors small to mid-size local partner organizations that can use fresh food to provide assistance to underserved and vulnerable populations.  Over 2.7 million pounds of food was distributed in 2025.

Milestones Inc., $30,000.  The Therapeutic Horseback Riding Program teaches basic horsemanship skills and grooming to nurture emotional health and improve cognitive, physical and psychological function for young people with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Down syndrome and other similar diagnoses.  

Northern Kentucky Community Action Commission, $30,000.  Northern Kentucky Community Action Commission, $30.,000.  The Lincoln Grant Scholar House program provides affordable housing and educational support counsel and services to single student parents while also addressing the childcare and early education needs their children.

People Working Cooperatively, $50,000.  The Student Service Program provides supervision and resources in leveraging the time contribution of nearly 200-300 young philanthropist volunteers as they provide home repair and yard maintenance services for low income, elderly households in Greater Cincinnati.

Ronald McDonald House Charities $50,000.  Ronald McDonald House Charities, $50,000.  The Family Performance and Activities Program provides games, arts and crafts, shows and entertainment – many of them held in the Charles H. Dater Performance Theatre -- for guests at Ronald McDonald House.  This grant includes general operating support.

Strategies To End Homelessness, $35,000.  he Central Access Point Helpline for the Homeless is the centralized emergency shelter intake helpline that operates 363 days a year.  It is the one number anyone experiencing or at-risk of homelessness in Hamilton County needs to call to get information about services, check for space in emergency shelters, and other homelessness system programs, and/or be placed in a shelter or homelessness prevention program. 

Via Institute, $25,000.  Training for 100 practitioners or social workers from nonprofit agencies new to Via will help them directly work with 150 youth and adults and impact more than 15,000 people.

Strong Workplace Solutions helps nonprofits in Greater Cincinnati meet the demands they face by expanding their capacity and deepening their impact through transformative professional learning, consulting, and peer-to-peer collaboration, all at no cost. The model is a comprehensive intervention – capacity building and culture change take time, so we partner with organizations throughout the process, not just at the beginning. 

YWCA of Greater Cincinnati, $40,000.  The Youth Empowerment and Violence Prevention program serves middle and high school youth through school and community-based programming in rural and under-resourced communities where access to this kind of support can be limited. 

The Dater Foundation makes grants to non-profit organizations in the Greater Cincinnati area to carry out programs that benefit young people and focus in the areas of arts/culture, education, healthcare, social services and other community needs.  Information about the grantmaking process and guidelines and links to an online grant application website are available at www.DaterFoundation.org.

The private foundation was established by fourth-generation Cincinnatian, businessman and philanthropist Charles Dater (1912-1993) to ensure that his resources would continue to fund worthwhile community programs after his death.  

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For additional information regarding this news release, contact Roger Ruhl (513/598-1141).

The Charles H. Dater Foundation, Inc. is located at 700 Walnut Street, Suite 301, Cincinnati, OH 45202.