Idaho Community Foundation awards 58 grants in area
COEUR d'ALENE - The Idaho Community Foundation's Northern Regional Competitive Grants Panel has selected 58 North Idaho nonprofit organizations to receive more than $80,000 through its annual competitive grant cycle.
Grant recipients are from each of the counties represented in ICF's north Idaho region: Benewah, Bonner, Boundary, Clearwater, Idaho, Kootenai, Latah, Lewis, Nez Perce and Shoshone.
In 2011, ICF provided nearly $560,000 to the North Idaho region through grants, scholarships and other distributions. ICF President and CEO Bob Hoover said he expects similar financial support for nonprofits and students in 2012
This year's recipients of the Northern Region Competitive Grant Cycle include:
Benewah County
Benewah Community Hospital: $500 to purchase a high-resolution portable ultrasound
Greater Benewah County Humane Society: $350 to purchase a universal microchip scanner for identification of cats and dogs
Hospice of Benewah County, Inc.: $500 to buy new computer and equipment for the hospice program and office to keep better records of patients
St. Maries Volunteer Community Clinic, Inc.: $1,000 to help operate the free and reduced-cost volunteer clinic and to provide patients with diagnostic test vouchers for lab tests and x-rays and for prescription medication vouchers
Kootenai County
Association for Handicapped Recreation, Inc.: $1,666 for scholarships for 12 low-income children to attend four weeks of camp
Camp Fire USA Inland Northwest Council: $3,000 to pay for North Idaho military children to attend Camp Sweyolakan for Operation Purple Camp
Carrousel Players of the Coeur d'Alene Summer Theatre: $1,000 to give children the opportunity to perform original musical theater and learn different styles of dance, song and history while having a good time
Children's Village, Inc.: $1,000 to care for critical needs children residing in the facility's Moyer house as well as the crisis nursery
Family Promise of North Idaho: $1,000 to fulfill the electrical needs of the day center and provide homeless families with access to on-site laundry facilities
First Book-Kootenai County: $4,000 to increase the number of new books provided to children with socio-economic risks by granting funds to more agencies serving these children
First Presbyterian Church: $4,000 to grant scholarships to children of low-income and homeless families who otherwise could not afford to send their children to a learning center that offers hands-on learning for ages 0-5 including preschool and child care
Fresh Start: $500 to provide shelter, warm food, and blankets for the homeless people who would otherwise be sleeping outside or otherwise unprotected in minus-20 degrees F temperatures
Idaho Youth Ranch, Inc.: $500 to help up to 50 teenage boys with substance abuse issues become clean and sober, improve family relationships and develop life-long skills and behaviors to refuse drugs and alcohol
Invent Now, Inc.: $1,000 to provide up to 25 partial or full scholarships to underserved children in grades 1-6 to attend the Camp Invention program
Junior Achievement of the Inland Northwest: $2,000 to support the continuation of the effective Junior Achievement programs at Post Falls Middle School and River City Middle School
National Alliance for the Mentally Ill - Coeur d'Alene: $3,000 to initiate the BASICS program and expand Family to Family, In Our Own Voice, CIT, and increase the number of persons trained to present programs, educate community groups and expand outreach to veterans and the homeless
North Idaho Friends of the Opera and the Arts: $2,000 to develop and deliver the children's opera "Little Red Riding Hood" to the elementary schools of Kootenai and Shoshone counties
Ramsey Magnet School of Science: $4,402 to buy children's literature for students in grades 1-2 to take home and read with their families
Spokane Symphony Society: $2,000 to provide three free, professional concerts for elementary students
The Women's Center, Inc.: $5,000 to educate youth about healthy relationships, teen dating violence, gender roles and sexual assault in order to prevent violence, develop healthy and safe relationship knowledge and skills, and promote safety for youth
Shoshone County
City of Wallace: $3,675 to construct, reconstruct and replace a set of public stairs in one of three locations on the south hill of Wallace
Shoshone County Community Concert Association: $500 to pay for concert performances
Shoshone County Community Health Clinic: $500 to provide medical and dental care for patients
In 2012 there were 109 applications to the Northern Region Grant requesting more than $430,000. Grants are awarded in the areas of arts and culture, education, emergency services, health, libraries, conservation/environment, public projects, recreation and social services.