NORWAY – Norway Savings Bank this week committed $5,000 toward a challenge grant that charges the Oxford County Committee with raising $100,000 in order to gain $50,000 for the Oxford County Fund, an endowment that supports community-building projects in Oxford County.

The Oxford County Committee and the Oxford County Fund were established in 1997 to make grants to innovative area projects by the Maine Community Foundation.

The committee has made $18,500 in personal pledges toward the challenge match and nearly $63,000 total to the Oxford County Fund as part of a long-term campaign to build its endowment to $500,000.

The Oxford County Committee reviews local grant proposals and assists MCF in raising new charitable funds. In its most recent round of grant-making, the Oxford County Committee recommended grants to assist the Rumford River Park Planning Committee in developing a riverfront park in Rumford Falls, enable the McLaughlin Foundation in South Paris to hire a coordinator for volunteers, support programs at the Oxford County Agricultural Society in Norway, and develop a computerized card catalog at the Brownfield Public Library.

Robert Harmon, the bank’s president and chief executive officer, said the bank’s charter as a mutual or community bank allows it to focus more on the community than a traditional stock bank.

“We strive to be an involved member of the towns we serve, and we wholeheartedly support initiatives that improve the health and welfare of our neighbors, and the economic future of our communities,” Harmon said.

Awarded through the Betterment Fund, the challenge grant runs through Oct. 15, 2005. A group of local volunteers, the Oxford County Committee must raise $100,000 in new charitable funds by that time in order to receive the full $50,000 for the Oxford County Fund.

The Oxford County Fund has grown from $20,000 in 1997 to more than $170,000 today. It currently awards about $8,000 in grants each year to nonprofits and public agencies.