WCRF gives $1.7 million in 27 grants

By Mary Zielinski
The big winners in the fall grant cycle of the Washington County Riverboat Foundation (WCRF) are youth and veterans. The award ceremony November 18 at the Riverside Casino saw 14 of the 27 grants given to area schools and youth programs and another four to projects benefiting veterans. The WCRF is the nonprofit license holder for the Riverside Casino and Golf Resort and receives its funding from state mandated allocations.
Total of the 18 grants is $476,658 and range from $1,770 for the Girl Scouts Green Girls to $200,000 (given in two years at the rate of $100,000 each year)) for the Washington School DistrictÕs $2,200,000 facilities improvement plan. The Hawkeye Area Council Boy Scouts received $2,750 to aid with the $25,700 Washington County Venturing Outreach program.
The single biggest grant was $1,055,000 to the City of Kalona for its $2,848,937 downtown revitalization project to be provided in a five-year period, which means the city will receive approximately $200,000 per year. Officially, the WCRF awarded a total of $1,748,643, which includes the multi-year grants. The WCRF had received, by its October 9 deadline, 46 grant applications that totaled $2,983,630 in requests. Officials noted that the WCRF received $2,727,000 from the Casino gaming operation through October.
The grants struck a nice balance with funds to the school districts helping not only with classroom technology and educational programs but also with bus and school safety. One of the grants, to the Washington County Sheriff’s Department, is $9,991 to help with the $11,991 School/Active Shooter Response Equipment. In simple terms that means having equipment to respond to a possible terrorist (or shooter) situation at a school. As a deputy noted, “It’s like insurance you hope you never have to use, but you know you had better have it.”
The funds for the veterans groups will aid with beautification of the Veterans Memorial Park in Washington ($10,000 for the $58,849 project)), addition of a permanent veterans display in Wellman’s Heritage Museum ($4,040 total) and the completion (specifically landscaping) of the just dedicated Veterans Memorial Park in Riverside ($45,000 of the $90,000 project). Riverside’s History Center received $10,000 (of a requested $16,400 for a $24,600 project) for acquisition of display items.
The Highland School District received $4,000 for its $7,000 Podcasting: Web Enhancement project and $8,000 for its $12,000 bus safety program. The Mid-Prairie School District received $7,420 for its $9,320 Connecting Schools through Technology project; $17,908 for its $2,508 Engaging Students with Interactive Technology program and $31,586 for its $36,648 high school safety and security plan.
The $4,000 grant to PAWS and More will help buy a very needed $5,100 furnace for the animal shelterÕs building. PAWS is used by virtually every city in the county as well as the county itself. For Crawfordsville, that $75,000 grant for water aid will get the city its needed water supply, an $80,000 project. There is no doubt that the $34,000 to the Washington County Development Center (WCDC) for accessible transportation will translate into more and better service for its clients.
At the end of the awards last week, Board Member Ed Raber noted that since the WCRF came into existence (as the nonprofit license holder for the Casino), it has distributed about $11 million throughout the county (and a few adjacent areas), a figure that includes the municipal allocations, drawn from 25 percent of the gross receipts the WCRF receives from the Casino’s gambling revenues.
The next grant cycle will be in the spring with the deadline tentatively set for April 1. Letters of intent may be submitted starting February 1. Following the usual form, the winners should be announced in June. The second cycle will deadline in October, probably just about a month before the statewide re-authorization vote for gambling. The vote, which is for all gambling operations regardless of the length of time in which they have been in existence, is set for November 2, 2010.
The other grants were Corridor Business Journal, non-profit awards sponsor, $5,000; WACO Schools, $5,000 for the $10,000 Hands on Technology for Talented & Gifted; Washington County Hospital Foundation, $8,894 to help with the $30,000 Care for Our Kids Golf Classic; GIVE (for veteran s) Foundation, $10,000 for gold fundraiser sponsorship; Washington Area Amateur Radio, $10,000 for the $11,250 Emergency Communications Equipment; Washington Community Y, $12,220 for the Washington and Wellman Startup and Improvements; Washington County Fair Association, $28,955 for the $49,765 new multi-species livestock barn; St. James School, Washington, $43,00 to help with the $76,000 fire alarm upgrade and kitchen improvement; Main Street Washington, $50,000 of $97,000 requested for the $182,000 main street facade incentive, and the Keota School District, $55,109 for the $66,109 serving students with technology program.