The Vineyard Golf Club Foundation has announced the donation of about $66,000 in cash in the past year to nonprofit organizations on the Island.

The foundation also gave more than $24,000 in donated golf games in the past year. These games generated even more money when auctioned for the benefit of Vineyard nonprofits.

Over the past six years, the foundation’s cash and golf-game donations total more than $652,000.

To fund the foundation, each member of the Vineyard Golf Club is asked to give a minimum of $500 annually.

The foundation’s annual cash gifts range from $2,000 to $10,000. Recipients include The Drum Workshop, Hospice of Martha’s Vineyard, the Martha’s Vineyard Boys’ & Girls’ Club and the Martha’s Vineyard Museum.

Organizations benefitting from auction donations in recent years include Martha’s Vineyard Community Services, Sail Martha’s Vineyard and the Visiting Nurse Association.

Initiatives undertaken by the foundation in 2007 include the introduction of a $50,000 challenge grant for five years to the Edgartown Library Foundation to assist that foundation in its capital campaign for a new library. Individual contributions of $2,000 or less up to $10,000 per year will be matched by the golf foundation to encourage support from the Vineyard’s year-round community.

Another initiative started this year will match up to $25,000 per year for the Islander Appeal for the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital. In 2006, the foundation gave a cash gift of $100,000 toward the hospital building campaign.

More information about the Vineyard Golf Club Foundation is available by calling foundation president Owen Larkin at 508-627-8930, extension 123, or by visiting vineyardgolf.com and clicking on VGC Foundation.