For the first time this year, The Starke County Community Foundation has adopted an open grant-cycle meaning that grant applications will be accepted and awards will be given year-round. $5,000 worth of grants were recently distributed to several local non-profit organizations.
A $2,000 grant was given to the North Judson-San Pierre High School Memorial Committee. The group wishes to provide a site for Alumni to visit and also to help preserve the history of North Judson by constructing a memorial to the old NJ-SP High School, which was built in 1921 and demolished in 1993.
Starke County A.B.A.T.E. also received a $2,000 grant which they plan to use to help to lift the financial burden off of low-income families during the holidays. The funding will help them to purchase food, stockings, toys, clothes, and gifts.
HealthLinc was awarded $500 for its Reach Out and Read program in Knox. The grant will assist with the purchase of brand new books that are sent home with participants. A major element of Reach Out and Read is parents’ involvement with their children’s education. When parents read to their children at home, they assist with their vocabulary and pre-reading skills, and they forge important neural connections during a critical period of brain development.
Knox Elementary School received a $500 community education grant in order to purchase a new sandbox. The school seeks to purchase the sandbox for the Title I and Integrated preschools. Representatives of the school reported that research shows playing in sand helps young children to develop fine motor skills, social skills, language skills, sensory processing, and neurological processing.
SCCF grant applications are available at nicf.org. For more information, contact SCCF Director of Development Sarah Origer at starke@nicf.org or by calling 574-772-3665.
