Belmont County Juvenile Court chief probation officer Kelly Carter, from left, Juvenile probation officer Courtney Cook, Community Foundation for the Ohio Valley program director Debbie Stanton, Belmont County Juvenile Probate Judge Al Davies, CFOV program officer Jess Puglisi, and CCAP director Noah Atkinson celebrate Crossfit for Change receiving $7,480 from CFOV. (T-L Photo/GAGE VOTA)

ST. CLAIRSVILLE – The Community Foundation for the Ohio Valley gave $7,480 to Belmont County Juvenile Court through its Community Impact Fund grant.

The funds will go towards CrossFit for Change.

​​Crossfit for Change is a crossfit program operated through the Juvenile Court system and its home base is Ohio Valley Crossfit – located in the Ohio Valley Mall.

“We are very excited to have this donation. We’re blessed in that we receive donations from a lot of individuals and entities across the county and across the Ohio Valley and they are all greatly appreciated,” Belmont County Juvenile Probate Judge Al Davies said. “We could not maintain such high quality programs that we have here in the juvenile court without the generosity and support of these entities and individuals that we have.”

He added that the funds will go directly towards the operation of the program and not wages or benefits of court employees.

“These funds will be put to good use – all towards the services for the kids and families that we have,” Davies said. “I just want to mention that these programs could not operate as well as they do without my talented staff and the generosity of so many individuals. I’m so very grateful for that.”

He added that his court and the Community Foundation for the Ohio Valley have good synergy because a lot of the goals both entities have match up.

Community Foundation for the Ohio Valley Program Director Debbie Stanton said that one of the focus areas of the grant is youth recreation and youth development.

“This program definitely checks those boxes for us,” Stanton said. “This comes from a resource that’s made to support the community, give back to the community and lift those up who just need a little bit of extra lifting. So we’re just proud to be part of it.”

Stanton said that the juvenile court does a good job involving youth which is important to CFOV.

CCAP director Noah Atkinson said that the funds will go to help pay gym memberships for the kids.

“This will allow us to use other monies to provide more incentives for the kids so it’s going directly to benefit the youth that are participating in the program,” Atkinson said. “This will be a huge help for us to be able to expand and provide a better opportunity for them.”

He added that the CFOV is a huge supporter of the youth in the community.

“Without them, some of our programs wouldn’t be as successful, so they’ve provided a lot of help for us,” Atkinson added.