FAMILY RESOURCE CENTER GETS TAX CREDITS

The Cape Area Family Resource Center is slated to get $171,665 in state tax credits. The credits should aid the Cape Girardeau center in raising money, its director says.

"It makes raising money a lot easier because donors can receive tax credits for it," said Sharland Reed, executive director.

The center has been operating since early this year from a building at 1000 S. Sprigg that once housed an insulation business.

"Right now we are leasing the space," said Reed. Plans are to raise enough money to buy the building and renovate it.

The center's goal is to provide a single place for people to receive social services.

Reed said the center has provided a drop-in program for children and a once-a-week nutrition program for the elderly. Southeast Missouri Hospital has provided health screenings.

"We are just getting in full swing," Reed said. The center currently operates with state grants.

The tax credits for the center are among $18 million in tax credits awarded to 143 organizations this week.

Gov. Mel Carnahan announced the tax credits. They include combined tax credits of more than $1 million for eight Southeast Missouri organizations in eight cities from Cape Girardeau to Hayti.

Carnahan said: "Communities are strengthened by partnerships among the business community, charitable organizations and state and local government. The Neighborhood Assistance Program is a valuable economic development tool that financially fosters such partnerships."

Not-for-profit organizations participating in the Neighborhood Assistance Program address various needs, including crime prevention, education and job training. Participants provide services ranging from the operation of senior citizen centers to transportation.

Businesses can donate cash, materials, supplies, equipment, technical assistance, professional services, labor, real estate, stocks and bonds.

The tax credits issued to participating businesses can equal up to 50 percent of the total value of the contribution or up to 70 percent for projects located in many rural areas of the state, Carnahan said.

Since Missouri enacted the Neighborhood Assistance Program in 1978, more than 4,000 organizations in more than 270 cities have benefited from the program. During that time more than 40,000 donors have contributed in excess of $220 million to neighborhood improvement projects.

TAX CREDITS AWARDED

Southeast Missouri organizations awarded Neighborhood Assistance Program state tax credits ranked by amount:

* Susanna Wesley Family Learning Center in East Prairie, $329,000.

* Van Buren Youth and Community Center, $173,950.

* Cape Area Family Resource Center, $171,665.

* Girl Scouts Cotton Boll Area Council in Dexter, $128,390.

* Pemiscot County Childcare Initiative in Hayti, $87,500.

* Ripley County Caring Community Partnership in Doniphan, $83,500.

* Farmington Senior Center, $67,301.

* House of Refuge for Abused and Battered Women in Sikeston, $35,000.