Grants and Scholarships: Kentucky Society for Prevention of Blindness

This series consists of correspondence, grant proposals, and reports relating to grant applications made to the Fund. Included are lengthy formal proposals and shorter requests made by a wide variety of agencies and individuals in eastern Kentucky and elsewhere. West routinely responded to proposals with a letter acknowledging their receipt and gave likely dates by which grant proposals would be acted upon. Copies of these letters and acceptance / rejection letters are included, along with trustee's comments and votes on proposals.

This material, along with the Board of Trustee meeting minutes, documents the criteria by which the Fund Trustees assessed the value of individual grants. The period of time documented is marked by a slow shift of emphasis in the Fund’s overall focus. While support for Homeplace projects leveled off, the number of outside applicants grew at an ever- increasing rate. The correspondence reflects in part, the additional burden placed on the Trustees and West by this change, as they were required to consider a wide variety of proposed projects. The correspondence documents the reluctance of West and the Board to publicize the Foundation through such media as the Foundation Directory. It shows further, how the analysis of proposals came to be more formal and controlled as the Board adapted to both a different role and to the modern era of governmental oversight of charitable organizations.