The Greater Salina Community Foundation recently awarded over $18,000 to 10 charitable projects and organizations in Saline County. The following organizations received funding:

• The Kansas Food Bank, $5,000 to provide chronically hungry K-8 students and siblings free weekend food packets in the 2020-2021 school year.
• Little Samaritans Child Development Center, Inc, $2,400 to purchase new playground equipment to encourage and improve outside play and opportunities for pre-school students ages 3-5.
• Ashby House, $2,801.91 to create a youth recreational program to focus on encouraging active outdoor play for older children while they reside in the safe environment of the Ashby House.
• Communities in Schools of Mid-America, $2,500 to provide Salina students with the essential items needed to keep them in school and on the path to graduation.
• USD 305, $1,145 to purchase a storage unit for the Functional Learning Center (FLC) room at South Middle School to help organize the instructional resources used by special education students for structured learning activities.
• Salina Art Center, $5,000 to develop the SAC filmmaking program for filmmaking students to acquire technical skills, practice vocabularies of critique, analysis & storytelling, and gain film knowledge.
• Big Brothers Big Sisters of Salina, $4,417.75 to develop an excursions program as an alternative site-based program to offer the opportunity to engage physical activities while promoting healthy lifestyles.
• The Domestic Violence Association of Central Kansas, $4,981.35 to help purchase iPad tablets and security anti-theft tablet kiosks to enable clients to access telehealth and secure internet needs.
• Salina Grace, $4,000 to purchase needed items to help prevent the spread of Covid-19 within the Salina Grace Winter crisis shelter.
• Salina Emergency Aid Food Bank, $5,000 to bring additional food resources to families in need in Assaira, KS and surrounding areas by purchasing reusable supplies and to cover the costs to establish a food bank for distribution.

This round of grants was made possible by five 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 Kansas Health Foundation Fund, which supports preventative programs that support healthy living across Saline County; the L.P. “Pat” Mullen Fund, which supports hands-on learning opportunities for youth in the areas of arts and humanities and science, technology and invention, the Early Childhood Care and Educational Fund, which supports the care, education, development, health, safety and human service needs of children ages 0-6; the Assaria Community Fund, which supports projects that improves the quality of life for the citizens of Assaria, KS.