HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Hutchinson Community Foundation awarded $49,192 to seven nonprofit organizations in its most recent round of Fund for Hutchinson grants.
Established in 1990, the Fund for Hutchinson serves as a permanent resource for the changing needs of Reno County. More than $3.7 million have been awarded to more than 170 area organizations and agencies from the fund.
Proposals for the grants are accepted year-round, with awards decided in March, May, July, September and November.
The following organizations received grants:
BrightHouse – $9,016: This grant will fund six weeks of salary and benefits for the incoming executive director, allowing an overlap training period with retiring the executive director, with the goal of a smooth, effective transition for staff, board and clients.
Hutchinson Symphony – $4,850: Funds will support production and marketing costs for “Playworks at the Clayworks,” an in-person and livestreamed event featuring four new Hutchinson Symphony ensembles playing a variety of pieces in order to provide Hutchinson and Reno County a unique, quality musical experience.
Interfaith Housing and Community Services Inc. – $13,576: Funds will contribute to the purchase and installation of a new sign, reflecting the agency’s recent name change and making the building easier to find for clients, community partners and donors, and will also cover replacement of a section of windows on the building.
Plainview Mennonite Church-JAM Program – $8,500: Funds will be used to help with projects that will improve the efficiency and operations of the former Partridge Grade School building, which the church recently purchased to expand capacity to serve youth and their families in southwest Reno County.
Kansas Big Brothers Big Sisters Serving Reno County – $6,250: Funding will support administrative and marketing costs for the Bigs in Blue project, which focuses on recruiting, training and matching Hutchinson and South Hutchinson police and Reno County Sheriff’s officers as mentors, building not only trust among youth, their families and the mentoring officers but also strengthening relationships between law enforcement and the communities they serve.
Kansas Food Bank Warehouse Inc. – $5,000: Grant will support the Food 4 Kids Backpack Program, which distributes backpacks free-of-charge on Fridays during the school year, providing students with food for the weekend and allowing students to return to school on Monday feeling less anxious, healthier and more prepared to learn. Nine elementary schools in Hutchinson and seven additional schools throughout Reno County participate in this program.
Sunshine Meadows Retirement Community – $2,000: Grant will fund the purchase of iPads, allowing access to TeleMed, which has become a necessity if patients, staff and other community members are to remain safe during COVID-19. Telemedicine removes the need for residents to leave the retirement community and risk exposure to illness, and it also eliminates wait time, transportation costs, staff time lost because of travel with clients, and the potential necessity for quarantine time because of exposures.