Foundation divvies up $65,000
Local educators, other groups have big plans for grants Michelle Mitchell For the Palladium-Item Sixteen organizations have a little more room in their budgets thanks to grants by the Wayne County Foundation. More than $65,000 was awarded recently for programming that addresses needs in education and community activities. "The Wayne County Foundation is a wonderful community support to so many," said Darla Randall, executive director of Birth-To-Five, an educational program for young children and their parents. Part of the more than $8,500 grant will train Birth-To-Five staff to educate parents about early childhood literacy, she said. "We're not just about training children," Randall said. "We're about training parents as their child's first teacher so the home environment can be the child's first learning environment." Grant funds will also purchase updated Born to Learn curricula and handouts so parents can refer back to information learned during home visits or group events. Earlham College's Joseph Moore Museum received $7,000 to support its educational outreach program for student groups from kindergarten through sixth grade. "We've designed tours that correspond with science and social studies standards for that age," said Carol Stocksdale, the museum's coordinator for educational outreach. These programs are free to school groups and involve hands-on activities such as examining mineral samples or measuring pottery shards. Grant money will help fund materials for these activities, brochures for the program, computer equipment and improvements to the program's Web site. The foundation received 19 applications and chose recipients based on criteria such as how each program addressed community interests and problems and the scope of the effect on the community, said Lannie Stapleton, program officer at Wayne County Foundation. Applicants for the Health/Human Service, Seniors and Environment and Preservation categories must be received by Oct. 3. For an application or more information, visit www.waynecounty foundation.org or call (765)962-1638. Michelle Mitchell is an intern for the Palladium-Item. To comment on this story, contact assistant city editor Mary Sell: (765) 973-4476 or mgsell@pal-item.com Grant recipients Education Category • Centerville-Abington School Corporation - $5,400 • Richmond Art Museum - $5,125 • Wayne County Soil & Water Conservation District - $2,000 • Earlham College - $7,000 • Birth-To-Five - $8,475 • Historic Hagerstown - $4,702 • Communities in Schools - $3,300 • Amigos/CAECI - $3,765 • Cope Environmental Center - $5,155 • Richmond Community Schools-Discovery Program - $2,000 • Economic Growth Group/Richmond-Wayne County Chamber of Commerce-Business Education Liaison - $2,500 • Junior Achievement - $1,673.82 Community Activities Category • Safety Village of Wayne County - $2,500 • Indiana University East - $2,000 • Conflict Resolution Center - $4,700 • Wayne County Vision - $5,000Copyright (c) Palladium-Item. All rights reserved. Reproduced with the permission of Gannett Co., Inc. by NewsBank, inc.