City of Pretty Prairie

Award: $3,800

A traveling performing company hosted a series of interactive and educational workshops for youth that culminated in a public performance during the summer. This grant is made from the Helen Adams Hamilton Children and Education Fund of Hutchinson Community Foundation. 

Sky Ryders Performing Arts Foundation

Award: $10,000

The Sky Ryders Performing Arts Foundation consists of Reno County, greater Kansas, and Great Plains area residents whose lives were changed by their experiences developing character, work ethic, and music and movement skills in the Sky Ryders Drum & Bugle Corps. Funding helped the foundation with a series of drum and bugle corps marching clinics in the region.

City of Hutchinson

Award: $5,300

Grace Arbor Neighborhood, The Salvation Army of Reno County and the City of Hutchinson are collaborating to turn the vacant space west of The Salvation Army into an outdoor gathering space and park. The grant provided concept renderings so area residents could review and offer input on the plans. 

City of Pretty Prairie

Award: $10,000

Funds allowed for the addition of outdoor seating, games, shade and artificial turf in an empty lot in the business district, which is accessible for use by the community’s after-school program at the adjacent library.

Hutch In Harmony

Award: $12,500 per year for 2 years

A matching grant to build capacity and strategy as part of a statewide cohort focused on advocating for and uniting people.

Reno County Entrepreneurship Ecosystem

Award: $90,000 per year for 5 years

Year five of a five-year grant and funding partnership with the City of Hutchinson and Reno County to strengthen and grow the small-business sector through supporting the Entrepreneurship Navigator at StartUp Hutch, efforts to improve mentorship and connection among entrepreneurs, and increased communications. 

City of Buhler

Award: $15,000

Funding from the Fund for Reno County, along with other grant dollars from Buhler Community Foundation, Heal Reno County and the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas Pathways program, were used for Buhler’s parks improvement plan, which included developing a handicap-accessible path throughout Becker Park. 

Grace Dental Day

Award: $10,000 per year for 2 years

This two-year grant in its second year supported Grace Dental Day, an annual event where community members can receive free dental services, oral hygiene education and oral care products for personal use.  

Hutch Rec

Award: $8,500 per year for 2 years

Funding supported establishing a tenants association. Hutch Rec learned of the potential need for and benefits of such an association through its work with residents participating in the Healthy Neighborhood Initiative. The goal is to create a system that is fair to tenants and landlords and provides education on tenant-landlord rights and responsibilities. 

Milestone Clubhouse

Award: $13,046

Funding supported Milestone Clubhouse’s goal of increasing transportation for its members, who are adults with a severe and persistent mental illness. Milestone makes transportation to the clubhouse for services and meals, to employment, and to medical appointments available to club members.

Streetlight Ministries, Inc.

Award: $2,584

Streetlight Ministries Inc. is working to minimize food insecurities in the Arlington and USD 310 areas of Reno County and has given over 9,200 food boxes from the Arlington Community Center since 2015. According to Feeding America statistics, 10 percent of the Reno County population is food insecure, with 62 percent of USD 310 students receiving free or reduced lunches. With this grant, the walk-in cooler and freezer were upgraded to address ongoing maintenance issues.

Earth Matters

Award: $3,600

Earth Matters seeks to improve environmental awareness and encourage youth to counter the effects of pollution by reducing, reusing and recycling. The volunteer organization collaborated with members of the Torch Club, the student leadership group of Boys & Girls Clubs of Hutchinson.

Hutch Rec Foundation

Award: $12,114

This funding supported continued refugee family integration in the community through funding for summer child care at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Hutchinson and YMCA memberships, as well as cultural competency training for volunteers and service providers.

Kansas Big Brothers Big Sisters Serving Reno County

Award: $5,000

Funding was used to develop group activities and cover entry fees for Big/Little outings throughout the year. These occasional group activities have proven to be a positive step in match sustainability.

Kitchen Hero Academy

Award: $10,000 per year for 2 years

KHA, in a three-year collaboration with Spark United Church of the Nazarene, is a 10-week summer cooking program for low-income middle-schoolers in USD 308. This two-year grant in its second year, helped ensure the program had the resources needed to continue providing the experience free to families. 

Partridge Public Library

Award: $1,500

This funding will support the installation of five sensory panels designed to promote brain growth, physical development and social interaction for young learners at the new Partridge Public Library when it opens.

Wisdom In Motion

Award: $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. Wisdom in Motion seeks to increase minority youth representation in mentoring and other programming by intentionally recruiting and training mentors who are minorities themselves.

Award: $2,500

War & Peace: Getting Around – The purpose of the grant funding is to host a Ukrainian war refugee family and specifically for funds toward a reliable vehicle for their transportation. Driven by a deep desire to assist those in need, a group of the church’s members feel a strong calling to support Ukrainian war refugees.

Award: $2,000

Building Resilience in Members of the Post-Addiction Community – Circles Reno County will forge relationships with members of the Oxford House system for the purpose of building resilience in our community as a whole. Currently, they are interfacing with leaders of the local Oxford Houses to train individuals in the Circles model to create their financial stability. Circles Reno County believes financial stability in this group will also benefit the entire Hutchinson community.

Award: $2,450

Let’s Get Fit! – Grant funding will allow for replacing old, outdated equipment and blinds in the community fitness center. When completed we will provide to the community a clean, updated place to exercise and improve personal fitness. Thus, improving the overall health status of our community.

Award: $2,206

Creekside Bike Boulevard Signage for Increased Visibility – Grant funding will be used to build safety awareness, visibility, and community members’ pride in the Bike Boulevard by providing signage in the section of Washington St. that is within the boundaries of the Creekside neighborhood.

Award: $5,000

Stand, Slide, Skip & Skate: Understanding Hutchinson’s Emancipation Day Celebration – Hutchinson’s Emancipation Committee intends to present seasonal activities to clarify the history, tradition, and significance of the Emancipation Celebration held the first weekend of August every year since at least 1889. Activities will include: Stand – community engagement training; Slide – New Year’s Eve Watch Night Party; Skip – Black History Month program and Skate – collaborative event with youth organizers of Juneteenth.

Award: $2,200

Celebrate Farmington Park –Neighborhood & Community Events to Enjoy the Park’s New Features – The neighborhood will use funds to celebrate the new amenities of our park now that most projects are completed and will extend an invitation to the surrounding community to come and enjoy their new space. Activities would include block parties around the neighborhood, donuts in the driveway, pancakes in park, fun with the trail-sparking creativity using sidewalk chalk, celebration event with inflatables and a cookout, an After Dark event lighting up the new trail.

Award: $3,000

Boughs for Boulevards – The neighbors’ goal is to plant trees where they are missing in the medians in The Founders Neighborhood’s unique boulevards, restoring some of the character that has been lost. Nowhere else in Hutchinson can community members enjoy the shade of trees planted in the middle of the street. Neighbors take pride in the boulevard trees and believe the feature is worth preserving.

Award: $1,000

Impacting Self-Worth to Create Future Leaders – Grant funding will support Graber youth in reaching their full potential. Through participation in a girls’ running club and a boys’ book club, students will connect with each other and the community members who serve as volunteers and guests to the groups. These groups will provide the opportunity for students to learn to build a network of safety and belonging that allows them the ability to take risks, accept failures with the wins, and know that anything is possible through the power of connection and self-worth.

Award: $2,000

Why Wait? Placemaking for Future Grace Arbor Park – Plans are in place for a fully equipped park in the Grace Arbor Neighborhood, near the Salvation Army building. The neighbors’ goal is to get people using the park space and be thinking of it as a park now, without waiting potentially years for construction. They will accomplish that by installing signs promoting the park project and holding community events including a cookout, ice cream social, and BBQ in the space. They will also used grant funds to send event invitation postcards to residents in the neighborhood.

Award: $2,500

Water Feature and Landscaping – Grant funding will be used to improve and repair the Hospice House courtyard water feature. The peacefulness of the courtyard and the water feature improves the quality of life and total well-being of the patients, families, and community visitors involved in end-of-life care.

Award: $5,000

Keep Calm and Stay Shady – This project aims to enhance the Chester I. Lewis Plaza by adding two shade structures, making it a more comfortable and inviting venue for outdoor events. By providing much-needed shade, we seek to increase the plaza’s usability during the summer months, attract a wider range of visitors, and encourage more frequent community engagement.

Award: $5,000

Splash River Shade Project – The Hutchinson Zoo’s Nature Playscape has been a hit since it opened in July 2023. Zoo attendance is up over 23%, and feedback has been tremendous! A few guests have suggested adding more shade around the Splash River area to enhance the experience and increase stay time there. With the support of this grant, the Zoo will purchase and install a shade structure near Splash River.

Award: $2,500

Youth Empowerment Summit/YES 2025 – All Reno County students in 5th-8th grades are invited to YES 2025 hosted by Rise Up Reno Prevention Network. Students will spend a day at Hutchinson High School learning and building leadership skills with high school Rise Up Reno Youth Leaders from Hutchinson, Buhler, Haven and Nickerson, who work with and lead groups in fun projects, presentations, and activities. Grant funding will support a presentation at YES by nationally known speaker, Bill Cordes, whose message ties in well with the work of leadership, prevention, and being a teenager.

Award: $2,500

Sky Ryders Making a Difference – The Sky Ryders Performing Arts Foundation seeks to create a sizable presence in Reno County in general, the local school districts, and with other performing arts organizations. They intend to do this through increased marketing, community performances, and more instructional clinics. The SRPAF is committed to making change to continue the revival of community pride through music. Grant funding will support venue rental, marketing, travel expenses and personnel for instructional clinics.

Award: $3,000

Sitting Together in SW Bricktown Park – SW Bricktown Park has seen many improvements over the past few years, and neighbors are enjoying the space. Adding seating to the park so adults can supervise playing children will encourage more community members to use the park and thereby interact with each other.

Award: $3,500

Holiday Help at the Hub – “Holiday Help at the Hub” is a community event designed to connect families in need with multiple service providers and resources in one convenient location, reducing barriers such as transportation and time. The event will include free meals, childcare, activities for children, and incentives for attendees. Grant funding will help make these aspects of the event possible.

Award: $500

Funds will purchase curriculum and materials aimed at helping middle school students improve their interpersonal skills.

Award: $300

Funds will purchase youth-friendly books and activities.

Award: $450

Funds will purchase craft supplies and educational materials to enhance the quality of the district’s after-school care.

Award: $450

Funds will assist with the purchase of audio books for the district’s preschool and kindergarten reading students.

Award: $100

Funds will help the theater expand its reach and resources.

Award: $850

Funds will help purchase supplies for this collaboration between Reins of Hope and the Hutchinson Career and Technical Education Academy to construct an equine feed storage facility.

Award: $600

Funds will assist with expenses for youth to attend a Substance Misuse Prevent Conference and Capitol Advocacy Day in Topeka.

Award: $1,000

Funds will be used to purchase cookbooks and workbooks for youth participating in the 2024 Kitchen Hero Academy, a program that teaches cooking skills to middle school students living in food deserts.

Award: $750

Funds will assist with set expenses for the theater’s youth-oriented end-of-summer show, “Androcles and the Lion.”