City of Haven

Award: $2,100

Through its own Love Where You Live initiative, the City of Haven will host interactive events, such as a speed connecting gathering and a guided bike tour, so participants may share ideas and feedback on improving local amenities and programs. These insights will drive future initiatives, ensuring Haven remains a safe, welcoming and vibrant place to live and work.

City of Haven

Award: $2,500

Funding to go towards a digital sign to communicate to Haven citizens the programs and activities happening within the city from various municipal entities. 

Hutchinson NAACP Youth

Award: $1,700

This project aims to enhance the Hutchinson NAACP Youth’s ability to actively participate in community outreach, which would foster greater community involvement and strengthen the organization’s mission of advocating for equality and positive change. Funding will supplement the costs of educational materials and marketing/engagement tools for outreach efforts, as well as supplies necessary for engagement activities.

Hutchinson/Reno County Chamber of Commerce

Award: $2,500

Funds committed for purchasing signage as a demonstration project to promote and improve vacant spaces in Downtown Hutchinson. During the implementation stage of the Downtown Master Plan, the signage will visually improve windows in vacant buildings by covering the interior storage and dressing up the Downtown neighborhood in a demonstration block area.

Hutchinson Wesleyan Church

Award: $2,500

Funds will provide necessary startup costs for a monthly free community dinner at the Hutchinson Public Library with the aim of building community and developing relationships across Creekside, Midtown, Grace Arbor and College Grove neighborhoods. The Big Table seeks to use its community dinner-based model to provide meals and foster a sense of belonging for those in need.

Sylvia Helping Hands

Award: $2,459

In the spring of 2024, a few citizens started a community garden with five raised beds to benefit the Sylvia community. Produce was harvested and placed in the city office and library for residents. Funding will allow the Sylvia Helping Hands organization to increase the size of the community garden.

Emancipation Committee, Hutchinson, KS

Award: $11,500

Funding will help with the costs of inviting an in-state and an out-of-state marching band to participate in the annual Emancipation Parade in August, increasing excitement, pride, attendance and, ultimately, a better understanding of what Emancipation weekend represents.

Family Community Theatre

Award: $7,600

Funding will help finish renovations of three restrooms in the Flag Theatre lobby.

Hutch In Harmony

Award: $20,000 per year for two years

Funding will help launch the Hutch Pass: Hutchinson Cultural Passport Program, an interactive and educational experience encouraging residents to explore cultural, historical and artistic sites across the county. Participants will receive a physical or digital “passport” through a booklet and will be able to download an app that provides incentives for engaging with local cultural landmarks, businesses and events. 

Hutch Rec

Award: $9,700

This project will bring the Hutchinson Municipal Band to performances in Hutch Rec’s Healthy Neighborhood Initiative neighborhoods, as well as the Smallville Festival. The project aims to transform public spaces into lively cultural hubs and foster a deeper sense of community while also increasing the band’s audience and, potentially, supporters.

Stage 9

Award: $7,600

Funding will help with the repair of the Stage 9 theater building façade.

City of Turon

Award: $7,500

Funding will assist in the repair and maintenance of the entrance and some windows of the 116-year-old Turon Community Building, which serves a variety of functions within the community, including for Friendship Meals, City Council meetings, birthday parties, family gatherings and as a polling place. 

Hutch Rec

Award: $1,500

This grant proposal aims to ensure the long-term sustainability of the community’s music culture by exploring a strategic partnership with the Hutchinson Municipal Band, Reno County Choral Society and the possible restart of the Hutchinson Symphony. Funding will provide a stipend to people who serve on the exploration task force. 

Hutchinson School of Tae Kwon Do

Award: $7,500

This project will allow for the purchase and installation of new training equipment and upgraded lighting to enhance the safety, accessibility and overall learning experience for underprivileged families, thereby fostering personal growth and strengthening the community. 

Hutchinson Wesleyan Church

Award: $2,500

This hands-on project, which includes coaching and training, will help participants develop the relational and organizational skills needed to serve The Big Table community dinner events and start their own throughout Hutchinson and Reno County. 

Kansas Fairgrounds Foundation

Award: $7,500

Funds will go toward a two-day retreat for the Kansas State Fair board and key staff members to develop a strategic plan.

New Beginnings

Award: $5,000

Funding will allow for replacement of six obsolete lab computers at New Beginnings, which are used by low-income individuals and families for education, communication and applying for jobs.

Rise Up Reno Prevention Network

Award: $4,200

Rise Up Reno staff will work with a trained facilitator of strategic review and planning processes to evaluate current programs and attitudes toward the work they do, and in turn, prepare for the most important priorities they will face moving forward.

Salvation Army

Award: $7,500

The Salvation Army’s Pathway of Hope initiative is an evidence-based program that strives to break the cycle of poverty by guiding low-income parents with children beyond crisis to stability. Funding will support the salary and benefits of the program’s case manager.

The Food Bank of Reno County Inc.

Award: $7,500

To accomplish the Food Bank’s goal of reducing food insecurity and improving services for children and families, it is in the process of developing a long-term plan, and part of that plan will require a more spacious and reconfigured facility. Funding will cover part of the project management costs of the project.

City of Arlington

Award: $20,000

Currently, the gymnasium in Arlington’s community building has no heat. As a result, the open gym for youth, as well as the community and family gatherings that previously filled the gym, has halted. This project will restore heat to the gymnasium in the community center through installation of two 60-foot radiant tube heaters and a center-circulating fan. 

ESSDACK

Award: $4,500

Many Reno County students living outside of Hutchinson are unable to attend school daily at the Reno County Learning Center inside of the Hutchinson Mall because of lack of funds to purchase gas. Some students travel 80 miles a day round trip. Funding will help provide gas cards for those students so they can attend school.

Girls on the Run

Award: $5,400

In this program, trained, caring and qualified coaches deliver a life-skills curriculum during out-of-school times by guiding small teams of girls through twice-weekly lessons that promote social-emotional learning alongside physical activity.

Kansas Big Brothers Big Sisters Serving Reno County

Award: $5,000

Funding will assist in providing large-scale match activities between Bigs and Littles. 

Kansas Children’s Service League

Award: $5,275

Funds will provide transportation assistance to those enrolled in the Healthy Families program, helping relieve a frequent stressor for families working toward resilience.

Reno County Education Cooperative

Award: $2,300

This proposal will fund training 20 special education teachers in the PAX Good Behavior Game during a summer session. 

USD 312-Haven

Award: $7,613

This project aims to initiate the rebuilding of the school library collection with current nonfiction books and quality fiction books starting with reading levels for students in kindergarten through third grade.

Wisdom in Motion

Award: $12,500 per year for two years

This organization serves at-risk and high-potential youth, fostering a sense of connection, empowerment and community engagement through structured mentorship, experiential learning and family-focused initiatives necessary for long-term success. Funds will help cover the costs of experiential learning initiatives, workshops and community engagement to help increase the impact on youth while also creating awareness of and engagement with the organization and programming.

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

The grant will help purchase equipment and materials for the club’s Future Welders of Tomorrow program designed to introduce youth to welding and metalworking.

Award: $600

The funding will purchase equipment for the club’s Lyricism 101 program, focused on empowering middle school students through DJing, music production and lyric writing.

Award: $425

The grant will help purchase supplies, food and beverages for game and craft gatherings between Bigs and Littles.

Award: $500

The grant will purchase books for a book club established to promote cultural awareness, empathy and literacy among minority youth through the exploration of books centered on diverse cultures and backgrounds.

Award: $900

The grant will help purchase snacks, equipment, a sign language interpreter and lighting for the Soft Spotlight Theater. The is a project collaboration between Family Community Theatre, Reno County Education Cooperative and Clothed in Compassion to offer a sensory-friendly theater performance designed for children with sensory sensitivities and their families.

Award: $425

Funding will help offset student costs associated with attending the National Speech and Debate Association national tournament.

Award: $300

The funds will go toward the purchase a portable gas generator to help amplify sound for the Sky Ryders Drum and Bugle Corps, a summer performance troupe made up of students from across the region.

Award: $350

The grant will help purchase cookbooks for Kitchen Hero Academy, a 10-week summer cooking skills program for middle school students.

Award: $1,000

Funding will purchase a help guide, board games and snacks for a newly established peer-mentor program called Sources of Strength focused on resilience through student connection and support.