Bama fund to hand out cash to local charities

The Bama Works Fund of Dave Matthews Band will give out nearly $200,000 in grants in the second half of 2008 to local nonprofit groups.

The fund, which is administered by the Charlottesville Area Community Foundation, was started in 1999 to support charitable programs in Charlottesville and the counties of Albemarle, Buckingham, Fluvanna, Greene, Louisa, Nelson and Orange. The fund has given more than $4 million to Charlottesville-area charities since it was established.

Here are some of the grants that will be dispersed:

— African American Teaching Fellows will receive $6,000 to support black students who are working toward becoming licensed teachers in public schools in Charlottesville and Albemarle.

— Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail will get $7,000 to provide supplies and exhibition expenses for ongoing inmate art programs.

— Alliance for Interfaith Ministries will receive $5,000 to provide emergency assistance to families who are on the brink of homelessness or having their utilities shut off in Charlottesville and Albemarle.

— Camp Holiday Trails will receive $5,000 to be used for scholarships for campers.

— Charlottesville Area Mountain Bike Club will get $4,800 to rent equipment to build 60 miles of new trails in three Albemarle parks.

— Chesapeake Bay Foundation will receive $10,000 to support the Virginia Watershed Education Program, which provides outdoor education opportunities for students and teachers in local schools.

— Chesapeake Wildlife Heritage will receive $5,000 to help local property owners restore wetlands and plant buffers to improve water quality and increase wildlife habitats.

— Fluvanna County Public Library will get $9,000 to purchase 10 new computers for community use.

— Fluvanna County Meals on Wheels will receive $5,000 to establish the volunteer chapter.

— Grace Works will get $5,000 to support the Local Foods and Active Bodies project, an after-school program in Albemarle that will encourage healthy eating and exercise for 20 children of low-income families.

— Louisa Downtown Development Corporation will get $4,800 to fund the creation of art education classrooms in the Louisa Arts Center.

— Monticello Area Community Action Agency will receive $7,500 to support the Family Economic Security program, an asset-based development program for low-income residents.

— National Multiple Sclerosis Society’s Blue Ridge Chapter will get $2,700 to fund wellness scholarships for people with multiple sclerosis in the Charlottesville area.

— The University of Virginia’s Women’s Center will get $5,000 to create the Men’s Leadership Project, a leadership development program in which undergraduate men will mentor adolescent boys in Charlottesville schools.