The Starke County Community Foundation made the holiday bright for many community organizations during its 2010 Grant Award Banquet. Over $24,000 was awarded on Monday, December 6th at the Community Center in Knox.
The grants are part of the Community Foundation’s Unrestricted Funds which allow the Community Foundation to assess the greatest needs of the community and assist the individual agency programs. Since 1998, the Community Foundation has awarded over $1.7 million to local organizations and projects that make a difference in Starke County.
There were twenty-one organizations that applied for funding from the Community Foundation with requests of nearly $60,000 dollars. Youth organizations received the bulk of the funding this year. The Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts each received $2,000 for programming support. Psi Iota Xi was awarded $1,000 for the 2011 Young Artist Conference for Starke County students in grades one to five. The kindergarten students at Knox Elementary School will be able to take a field trip to the Indianapolis Children’s Museum with their grant of $500. The Coalition Against Domestic Abuse received $4,000 to convert a portion of the garage at the Phoenix House transitional home into a Children’s Advocacy Center. Junior Achievement will bring the program, Our Community, to 2nd grade students with a grant of $1,596.
Community Services of Starke County has a history of providing just such services and they received $3,500 to help people with eligibility for energy assistance programs. Love Inc. will use their award of $2,700 for the S.W.A.T. (Servants with Appropriate Tools) program to help the elderly and needy with home repairs. R&R Horse Haven is a therapeutic horsemanship, equine facility and their grant of $3,900 will be used to enclose the horse riding arena.
North Judson-Wayne Twp. Library received $600 for a new computer workstation for the GED program. A structure for a map of Fletcher Cemetery to help people locate graves was made possible with a $1,000 grant to Fletcher Cemetery Association. Music will be shared throughout the county with a grant of $500 to the Starke County Choralaires for the 2011 season. The Starke County Amateur Radio Club will purchase a NOAA weather controller and radio with their grant of $970.
