INDIAN RIVER COUNTY Youth Guidance Mentoring Academy, Crossover Mission, SafeSpace and the Veterans Council of Indian River County are the four winners of $100,000 grants from Impact 100 of Indian River County this year.
Six other nonprofits each will receive $6,000 merit grants: Youth Sailing Foundation, Childcare Resources of Indian River County, United Against Poverty, Ballet Vero Beach, IRC Healthy Start and the Pelican Island Audubon Society.
For the second year, awardees were selected via a virtual membership meeting April 22, where 78% of members voted either online or by mail.
Members viewed 5-minute videos from each of the 10 finalists and then cast their vote for the top four projects.
Ballet Vero Beach films a scene on location from Nutcracker on the Indian River
Ballet Vero Beach turned the challenge of the pandemic into an innovative opportunity by taking their Nutcracker on the Indian River to the water s edge to film an original adaptation of Tchaikovsky s Nutcracker which we can see for free from December 22 through January 6.
One holiday tradition the pandemic has almost entirely eliminated is the Nutcracker ballet. But the nonprofit professional dance company Ballet Vero Beach got innovative and took their version out into the rugged Florida wetlands to film it.
And from December 22 through January 6, we can all see it for free on streaming and broadcast services, including PBS South Florida.