Christmas came early for several agencies and school organizations when the groups received grants ranging from $2,500 to $7,692.18 from an international company.

The International Paper Company Foundation awarded 18 grants to various nonprofit organizations and nonprofit schools during the organizations luncheon ceremony Tuesday at the St. James Hotel. The grants, which totaled to $60,000, primarily funded groups focused on literacy, environmental education and employee involvement.

“We can’t fund everything, so what we try to do is focus in on those things that we can have an impact,” International Paper Riverdale Mill training manager Pam Fraiser said.

Since 1965, the International Paper Company Foundation has been allocating $55,000 to $65,000 annually, which is distributed among agencies and schools in the Selma-Dallas County area.

After organizations have submitted their grant proposals, the International Paper Riverdale Mill’s Employee Review Committee reviews them and determines which groups are deserving of the money.

Among the 18 recipients, both Selma City Schools and the Dallas County Schools received $2,500 to assist with general school operations.

Some of the grants came with extra help from Riverdale Mill employees.

Riverdale employees volunteered for a minimum of six months for an organization.

“We feel like we can give some money, but a lot of the values that comes to these agencies is that volunteer effort given by our employees,” Fraiser said. “We feel like volunteering that we can have a double benefit to the agencies.”

As a new feature to this year’s ceremony, the company spent $13,170.50 to provide National Explorer subscriptions for all of the elementary schools throughout the city and county.

“We feel that is going to be a neat thing for the schools,” Fraiser said. “We hope they are being used in the classrooms. We feel like they are. We have had some good feedback.”

Cathedral Christian Academy Principal Roxanne Jones said the school administration was excited when they learned that the grant proposal she submitted resulted in five grants totaling to $7,692.18.

The grant, which was the largest amount given to a school or agency, will fund the school’s Scholastic Weekly Readers, a Listening Center, Accelerated Readers books and Accelerated Reader software.

“We are so excited,” Jones said. “ It’s going to help us expand our reading program at our school.”

To learn more about applying for an International Paper Foundation grant, visit www.ipgiving.com.