Today is Match Day where the Hutchinson Community Foundation will match the contributions to over 30 non-profit organizations in the community.
"I'm excited to announce that our match pool has grown from $60,000 to $100,000, because of some very generous donors who said $60,000 wasn't enough," said Aubrey Patterson with the Hutchinson Community Foundation. "However much each organization brings in as a percentage of our match, they will receive in return."
That means if an organization brings in 15% of the total, they get $15,000. In addition, Eagle Radio listeners and Hutch Post readers have added an additional impact to their donation through $5,000 in matching funds from the Bob Schmidt Foundation.
"We're seeing that a lot of non-profits, including theatrical organizations are struggling with the fact that you can't have people so close to each other," said Ethan Kaplan with Family Community Theatre. "It's our hope that we can continue to strive and provide these quality productions, and that's why hopefully Match Day will be so successful again."
Hutch Rec is also finding a way to continue to serve its constituents now and plan for a future when we can get togther in public again.
"It's not black and white," said Amy Conkling with Hutch Rec. "We knew it would not be. Specifically regarding our recreation opportunities and activities, we're still seeking some clarification on those items and we're releasing that information to the public as soon as it becomes available. Right now, we still plan on having some sort of baseball, softball and T-ball this summer."
USD 308 is also looking for ways to use matching funds to extend its efforts out into the community.
"We have been thinking about doing a bookmobile," said board president Kail Dennison. "We want to get books out to our students. We have libraries full of books right now that we can't give our families access to. We're thinking outside the box. What can we do that can help our students learn?"
Donna Davis with Brighthouse is also extremely grateful for the opportunity to have matching funds available as Brighthouse deals with the increase in domestic violence issues brought on by the pandemic.
"We're seeing, at least here in Reno County, that we're not getting as many calls from people who just want to talk," Davis said. "People are kind of hunkering down and staying put. What we are getting is more, more, if you will, violent violence, more brutality. It's almost like the steam builds in a household where no one can get out. There's no income coming in, the children are at home, there's all kinds of stress factors and the steam is building. We're definitely seeing more brutality here."
Donate to your preffered organizations at Ihearthutch.org.