Community Foundation awards $12K in grants

06 Mar Community Foundation awards $12K in grants

Hutchinson Community Foundation awarded Fund for Reno County grants totaling $12,050 to two nonprofit organizations in February.

Established in 1990, the Fund for Reno County serves as a permanent resource for the changing needs of Reno County. Grants represent an innovative approach or collaboration, a new efficiency, a critical need that requires funding or an opportunity that needs a bit of local support to leverage resources for the community.

Proposals for the grants are accepted year-round, with awards decided in January, March, May, July, September and November.

The following organizations received grants:

• Wisdom in Motion, $8,450: Wisdom in Motion works with youth through individual mentorship, group meetings, educational support, and family access to financial education. Its goal is to guide at-risk youth out of a school-to-prison pipeline and help them envision and achieve the best version of themselves. Wisdom in Motions seeks to increase minority youth representation in mentoring and other programming by intentionally recruiting and training mentors who are minorities themselves.
• Earth Matters, $3,600: Earth Matters seeks to improve environmental awareness and encourage youth to counter the effects of pollution by reducing, reusing and recycling. This volunteer organization will begin its work by collaborating with fourth- and fifth-grade students who are members of the Torch Club – the student leadership group of Boys and Girls Clubs of Hutchinson. Along with a set curriculum, students will learn about the Reno County Landfill and the science used in the local waste system and the TECH Recycling Center, Fair Price Clothing, and Builders Bargains to see how reusing takes place locally. Earth Matters hopes to take students who have completed the program into classrooms and community organizations to share their commitment to environmentally conscious choices.