Twenty-seven grant awards were approved for the spring small grant cycle from the Washington County Riverboat Foundation Wednesday.
The Foundation Board of Directors met at Wooden Wheel Vineyards to approve the grants of up to $5,000 each for a total of $122,799 awarded. Board Director Mark Weidman says over 50 applications were received which were evaluated by each of the directors and later by two subcommittees which narrowed the applications down to 27, 18 of them having unanimous approval, “With the nine remaining we had further discussion and there were no further issues, no one had some hard feelings about group one wanted to fund this, group two didn’t. After some minor discussion we all agreed that there were 27 great applications. The number was just a little bit over our goal which is a rough number. The foundation is doing very well financially, the casino is doing great financially, with those things that we took into consideration we decided to fund all 27 applications for this cycle.”
The board also approved to give a surprise grant, which President Shawn Ellingson explains went to the Golf for Injured Veterans Everywhere (GIVE) Foundation, “Well, the GIVE Foundation is a great organization that does golf charity for veterans and disabled veterans. They give golf lessons and we’ve supported it for several, several years often at the level of $10,000. Well, this year because of the way our grants were set up, they actually put in for the grant of $5,000 and they were awarded it. But we knew that this was a great organization and we wanted to surprise them by giving them an additional $5,000, so that we could be that full sponsorship like we have in the past.”
The foundation is next holding a large grant cycle, for which applications are due June 5th. A ceremony to announce that grant is anticipated to be held this coming November at the Riverside Casino and Golf Resort. The foundation is the non-profit license holder for the casino, which also gives 25% of its funds to the incorporated municipal cities of Washington County.
Grants Awarded:
1. Golf for Injured Veterans Everywhere Foundation (GIVE) – GIVE Foundation $5,000
2. Washington County Ambulance – Oxygen Refill Containment Station $5,000
3. WCDC, Inc. – WCDC Day Habilitation HVAC $5,000
4. Riverside Fire Department – Thermal Imaging Camera $5,000
5. City of Ainsworth – Ainsworth City Center Signage $495
6. Iowa City Area Home Builders Voc Training Council – ACE Mobile Lab $5,000
7. Washington County Extension – Future Education Equipment $3,910
8. Keota Volunteer Fire Department Inc. – New Rescue Truck $5,000
9. Crawford Township Fire Association – Multigas Meter $1,637
10. Atrium Village, Inc. – Atrium Village Generator Update Project $5,000
11. Parkview Home – INR & Safety Equipment $4,005
12. ChildServe Foundation – Helping Children Find Their “Voice” $4,232
13. Washington County Fair Association – Security Cameras $5,000
14. City of Hills, Iowa – City of Hills New Fire Truck $5,000
15. City of Letts – Letts Grain Bin Gazebo $5,000
16. Families Helping Families of Iowa – Celebrating Iowa Children in Foster Care $5,000
17. Columbus Community Schools – Track Hurdles $4,100
18. Washington Area Soccer Program – Goals for Washington Area Soccer Complex $5,000
19. Kalona Historical Society – Kalona Historical Society Summer Camp $5,000
20. Keota VFW Post 4716 – Keota VFW Flag and Cooler Replacement $5,000
21. WACO – Hearing Assist Project $5,000
22. Keota Unlimited, Inc. – Kewash Trailhead – Keota Site Amenities $4,800
23. City of Crawfordsville – New Water Salesman $4,620
24. Riverside Elderly Development Corp. – Senior Village Security Improvement $5,000
25. LET’S Center for the Healing and Creative Arts – Art Mural on State Theater Building $5,000
26. City of Washington – Pickleball & Tennis Resurfacing Project $5,000
27. Louisa County Emergency Management – Louisa County sUAS – Thermal Image Unit $5,000