Economic & Community Development Grants (continued):

We began a series on economic and community development district grants about a month ago.  There were a few hiccups in the publication schedule … the District Foundation Awards Banquet, a week of vacation, and a most interesting Windows 10 upgrade which imposed some unexpected adventures with the publication platform.  Today we offer the final article in the series about the 2017-2018 economic and community development district grants.

The District Foundation Committee awarded 19 district grants shared by 30 clubs.  Of those 19 district grants, 7 were devoted in total or in part to Economic and Community Development. As published previously, grants in this area of focus encourage multi-club, co-operation, partnerships with local governments, corporations, or non-profits, and these grants create the opportunity to make sizeable, long-lasting regional impacts.

We described three of these grants in considerable detail already, but here we provide a brief synopsis of the 7 grants and the clubs involved.  You can get more detail by logging onto dacdb.com and clicking on the ‘Grants’ tab.

The seven grants:

Blackstone:  A bus stop structure to protect riders from the element.

Bon Air:  Safe ramps for homes in partnership with project:HOMES.

 

Chester:  Improvements, remodeling, and repair to a regional K-9 training facility for law enforcement.  Will allow training of K-9s to assist with the elderly and with youth.

Colonial Heights, Petersburg, & Petersburg Breakfast:  Refurbishment of a deteriorated park to provide a safe playground for family outdoor activities.

Fluvanna:  In conjunction with Carysbrook Elementary,  this grant will create and stock an advanced STEAM lab for 3d and 4th graders, which enrollment population is expected to grow in the next few years.

Hampton Roads and Norfolk-Sunrise:  Winterization, repair, and improvements to cabins at this Girl Scout Campground.  The Campground has been an important regional resource for decades.

Prince George County: Improvement and enhancement of a Computer Resource Room at the Central Wellness Center.  The Center is a recent adaptive rehabilitative use of a former county middle school.  Under the auspices of the county Parks and Recreation Department, this facility will provide wellness equipment and classes, a computer lab, as well as high-speed broadband in an area of this rural county with limited access to such services.

Sharing the wealth:

In past years at every district training, the most frequent request was to have a way to share ideas among the clubs about their projects and activities.  We humbly suggest that the district and club database (dacdb.com), the district website, and the almost universal facebook pages for district clubs are starting points.

“See” you on Thursday.