Community Foundation Awards $43,000 in Community Grants

By Megan Robl January 24, 2019

The Greater Salina Community Foundation recently awarded more than $43,000 to 13 charitable projects and organizations in Saline County. The foundation will present grants during a “Share the Love” grant tour on Valentine’s Day, February 14.

Recipients include:

  • Lakewood Discovery Center, $5,000 to build a sensory learning garden with an interactive, ADA-accessible area designed for visitors of all abilities to engage nature.
  • Salina Art Center, $5,000 for the Krista Franklin artist-in-residence and exhibition, which will feature Franklin’s works in poetics, pop culture and histories of the African Diaspora.
  • Salina Grace, $5,000 to support the winter-only shelter for the homeless community in Saline County.
  • USD 305, $5,000 to continue offering Community Family Connections classes for parents living in poverty.
  • Salina Child Care Association, $4,100 to replace children’s cots, cot sheets and an obsolete copy machine for the child care facility.
  • Mary’s Grade School, $4,000 to help students build a greenhouse for the school’s community garden.
  • Sunrise Presbyterian Church, $3,800 to purchase science materials for the CASTLE Project, a free summer learning program for elementary students.
  • Salina Shares, $3,000 to support the Laundry Love program, which provides laundry services once a month at each of Salina’s three laundromats.
  • Salina Housing Authority, $2,500 to provide qualified women in public housing with scholarships for courses at Salina Area Technical College.
  • Sunflower Adult Day Services, $2,400 to encourage self-care for caregivers by providing scholarships to families with a working, female caregiver.
  • Sacred Heart Jr. Sr. High School, $2,000 to implement an observation beehive in the Sacred Heart science lab to supplement the curriculum for grades 7-12.
  • USD 305, $816 to purchase storage units for the Functional Learning Center room at Coronado Elementary School.
  • USD 305, $500 to purchase therapeutic resources for the South Middle School Sensory Room to help students dealing with extreme emotional states.

This round of grants was made possible by three funds at the community foundation: the Dane G. Hansen Community Grant Fund, which supports projects and programs that improve the community’s quality of life; the Fund for Early Childhood Care, Education and Development, established by Mark and Jane Berkley to better prepare children in Ottawa and Saline Counties for kindergarten; and the YW Legacy Fund, which supports initiatives that align with the mission of the former YWCA in Salina.

Applications for the foundation’s next grant cycle are due by 11:59 p.m. on Friday, February 15, 2019. This will be the final grant cycle of the foundation’s 2019 fiscal year. Over $27,000 remains available through the Dane G. Hansen Community Grant Fund, the Fund for Early Childhood Care, Education and Development, the Kansas Health Foundation Fund and the L.P. “Pat” Mullen Fund for Arts and Humanities. Detailed application and fund criteria are available at www.gscf.org/about-grants.