Before the fate of Ronald McDonald House Charities of Northern New York is decided, it squeezed in another round of grant awards to local charities dealing with children.

Bonnie J. Corbin, McDonald’s marketing director, said that because franchise owner James L. O’Donnell decided to sell 10 McDonald’s restaurants throughout Jefferson, Lewis and St. Lawrence counties, there will be a temporary hold on accepting grant applications. “We’re hoping it continues,” she said Thursday.

Earlier this week, seven local charities were awarded a total of $21,152.31 for children’s programs and activities. Because of the local transition, Mrs. Corbin said, there was no press conference announcing the awards; rather, agencies received a letter and a check in the mail.

The following organizations received grant awards:

■ $8,000 to the Northern New York FFA Leadership Training Foundation, Croghan, to replace the evaporator for a maple education program.

■ $5,000 to the Northern New York Rural Health Care Alliance, Watertown, to support a backpack program at Starbuck Elementary School that provides food for children throughout weekends.

■ $3,607 to Richville Free Library to purchase two pieces of equipment for the community playground.

■ $1,939 to New Day Children’s Center, Watertown, to purchase flooring and storage shelves for its large motor room.

■ $1,054.80 to Dexter Free Library to make Web-hosted electronic books available to its patrons.

■ $1,000 to Mountainview Prevention Services, Lowville, to sponsor a summer theater/musical production for high school students.

■ $551.51 to the Frederic Remington Art Museum, Ogdensburg, to host a children’s tea party.

“It’s always nice when we can help a wide variety, but it depends on the grants coming in,” Mrs. Corbin said. “We always like the down-home flavor request, like the backpack program. That’s nice because it’s thinking about children’s needs throughout the weekend.”

She said the agency received 10 applications for this summer. Ronald McDonald House Charities of NNY typically awards grants twice a year — in January and in July or August.

About $800,000 has been granted in Jefferson, Lewis and St. Lawrence counties since the local group’s inception in May 1997.

For more information, call Mrs. Corbin at 782-8102.

Thousands of readers like you have made Northern New York Newspapers the number one ranked website* for local news and sports coverage in the north country.

You can continue on to this article in a few seconds, or you can visit one of our websites:

• Watertown Daily Times
• The Ogdensburg Journal
• Daily Courier-Observer