2018 Project Drive Grant Recipients Announced
Grant makers award grants based on their specific eligibility criteria. Funding sources fund according to their pre-determined interests in program categories, locations, types of organizations and what monies may be used for. Some grants, such as the Project Drive Grant, a part of the G. L. Huyett Charities, are location specific. In their case, anyone outside a 50-mile radius of Minneapolis, Kansas is not eligible.
Project Grants are allocations of money that nonprofits, organizations, institutions, and businesses are eligible to apply for by submitting specific project proposals. Similar to project grants are program grants. These are grants where the money is used for a specific program such as establishing a gymnastics team.
Most grant makers prefer to help start a project or program or give it a boost part-way through, but not to cover any ongoing expenses once it is up and running. They want the project to become self-supporting, for its operational costs to come from other additional efforts, such as endowments or membership drives for nonprofits and operating activities such as sales.
How do people find out about grants in their area?
To find out about grants in their area, people need to be plugged in to the network, like working for a nonprofit organization that gets reports regularly of funding opportunities in their area, or by subscribing to a grant database like GrantWatch.
Those eligible to apply for Project Drive grants include any project that will help make the community a better place. Previous recipients of grant funds include: technology, electronics, playground equipment for schools; books and supplies for libraries; equipment/appliances for local organizations; building materials for facility renovations; and training materials for support groups.
Foundation and corporation grants can be found on GrantWatch. Be sure to change location on the navigation bar so that all grants listed will be for your location. Here are two examples of foundation grants:
Grants to New Jersey Employers, Nonprofits, IHEs, and
Agencies to Develop and Expand Apprenticeship Programs: Deadline: 3/1/2019Grants of up to $80,000 to New Jersey employers, nonprofits, trade associations, labor and workforce organizations, LEAs, vocational schools, workforce development boards, and IHEs to expand and develop approved apprenticeship programs. Funding is intended to cover wage reimbursement and training costs, and to provide incentives to employees to hire registered apprentices.
Grants to USA nonprofits, schools, IHEs, faith-based organizations, and government agencies in multiple States for programs in the area’s quality early childhood education, affordable housing, community development and revitalization, community services, and arts and culture.
Grant award recipients were announced during their annual company Thanksgiving gathering. Project Drive, founded in 2007 by G.L. Huyett, is part of a comprehensive community improvement program that awards grants of up to $50,000 for any one project to a non-profit individual, institution, or organization seeking to improve a North Central Kansas community.
Project Drive started with $1,000, grew to $5,000 in 2010, and increased to $25,000 in 2015 thanks to contributions from private donors. In 2018, Project Drive awarded $59,022 to 11 projects in Cloud, Ottawa, and Saline Counties.
Project Drive’s awards this year provide funds to impact a library, adult day care, veteran’s memorial, after-school program, senior meal delivery program, food banks, low-income families and individuals, and several community organizations.
Front row (from left): Barb Young, North Salina Community Development, Inc.; Stephanie McAlister, Glasco Community Recreation Board; Peggy Crippen, Catholic Charities of Northern Kansas; Mary Hrabe, Community Thrift & Care; and Joyce Roe, Gypsum Community Library. Back row (from left): Larry Betrand, Golden Wheel Senior Center; Lindsay Huenefeld, Sunflower Adult Day Services; Doug Plummer, Minneapolis Noon Lions Club #7127; Demerle Eckart, Friends of Culver; Kay Good, Tescott United Methodist Church; and Becky Selm, G.L. Huyett Charities.
Gypsum Community Library – $1,500 to purchase family friendly movies and books for their children’s story hour and summer reading program in Gypsum, KS.
Catholic Charities of Northern Kansas – $3,500 was awarded for the purchase of a commercial freezer that will save space and allow more shelving for dry goods in Salina, KS.
North Salina Community Development, Inc. – $3,542 will assist in repurposing eight more donated newspaper racks into “Little Libraries” to be placed at CityGo bus stops in northern Salina, KS.
Friends of Culver – $3,170 will assist in purchasing new storm windows and insulation for an abandoned house to rent out and then to use the rent to fund community projects in Culver, KS.
Minneapolis Noon Lions Club #7127 – $6,657 will purchase 14 high-quality maintenance free trashcans to replace the dilapidated ones in downtown Minneapolis, KS.
Community Thrift & Care – $2,500 to replace the roof on the Community Thrift & Care in Minneapolis, KS.
Sunflower Adult Day Services – $3,250 to purchase a refrigerator, stove, and upright to replace worn out ones at a day care facility for seniors or disabled adults in Salina, KS.
Glasco Community Recreation Board – $3,000 will help to repair and restore the Glasco Youth & Family Center building Glasco, KS.
Tescott United Methodist Church – $1,128 was awarded to purchase a laptop, projector, screen, and speaker for an after-school program in Tescott, KS.
Golden Wheel Senior Center – $880 to purchase a commercial ice machine, microwave, and six insulated food carriers for their Meals on Wheels service in Minneapolis, KS.
G.L. Huyett Charities – $29,815 to build a raised bed garden to grow fresh produce for local food banks or families in need in Minneapolis, KS.
Nonprofits, educators, small businesses, and concerned citizens frustrated by the often-overwhelming process involved with searching for corporation and foundation grants can identify funding opportunities that are easy to read and simple to comprehend at GrantWatch.com. Sign-up to receive the weekly GrantWatch newsletter which features geographic-specific funding opportunities.