The board of directors of the St. Marys United Methodist Church Foundation Inc. has approved grants for the spring 2017 grant cycle.

Board members awarded $32,000 to the Vashti Center in Thomasville to upgrade electronic health records technology for Vashti operations.

The Vashti Center is an agency of the South Georgia Conference of the United Methodist Church providing a number of services to children including residential care, clinic services, intensive family intervention, community support, individual services, permanency placement services and basic education for at-risk youth who have been removed from the public education system.

Grants totaling $589,761 will be made to 12 local and statewide organizations the week of June 5.

For information about The Vashti Center for Children and Families visit www.vashti.org.

Additional information about the St. Marys United Methodist Church Foundation Inc. is available at www.smumcfoundation.org or by calling (912) 510-9350.