Heartland Community Foundation awards $152,515 in grants to local organizations

The Heartland Community Foundation recently awarded $152,515.67 to local organizations in Rooks, Ellis, and Trego County during the organization’s fall grant cycle. In total, the community foundation helped fund 35 projects. Of those, 14 grant requests were fully funded.

The grant committees for each of the three Heartland Community Foundation counties awarded grant dollars from the available spendable balances of the foundation’s endowed funds, including the Rooks, Ellis, and Trego County Legacy Funds—the largest granting funds within Heartland Community Foundation.

“We are always excited to support the needs and dreams of our local nonprofits. The Legacy Funds help us do so,” said Sarah Meitner, Heartland Community Foundation Executive Director. “As these funds grow with time, patience, continued investment, and donor generosity, the Heartland Community Foundation will be able to grant even more and continue to make a lasting impact in the region.”

In Rooks County, $35,950 was distributed to these organizations:

• $7,500 to the City of Stockton for CPR devices for Rooks County EMS response vehicles

• $4,000 (from Rooks County Disaster Fund) for City of Stockton for Rescue Chain Saws

• $2,000 to Rooks County Historical Society for museum frontage sign

• $3,450 to Stockton Public Library for a Charlie Cart

• $5,000 to Stockton Recreation Commission for Kincaid Field fence renovation and safety upgrade

• $5,000 to USD 269 Palco for Saw Stop Machine – Woods Shop

• $1,000 to Disabled American Veterans Chapter 18 towards the purchase of a new medical access van

• $1,000 to USD 270 for Paradise Flats Theatre Collective/Cardinal Drama Program

• $1,500 to High Plains Mental Health Center for safety features for Crisis Intervention Center

• $2,500 (from Rooks County Disaster Fund) to STEM Harvest for the Hays Community Radar Project

• $3,000 to Damar Community Foundation for basketball/pickleball court improvement 

This round of grants was also made possible by the Dane G. Hansen Community Grant Fund, which focuses on improving quality of life throughout the county; the Heartland Healthy Living Fund and the Kansas Health Foundation Fund for Heartland Community; Heartland Action Fund; Ellis, Rooks, & Trego County Disaster Relief Funds; Trego County Enhancement Fund; Trego Youth Action Council Fund, and the Hays Optimist Friends of Youth Fund.

The foundation’s next grant cycle opens March 15 with online applications due May 15, 2025.

For more information, please visit www.heartlandcommunityfounda-tion. org or email heartland@ gscf.org.

About Heartland Community Foundation 

Since 2007, Heartland Community Foundation has been connecting donors with philanthropic causes they love. As an affiliate of the Greater Salina Community Foundation, HCF is proud to serve the communities and residents of Rooks, Ellis, and Trego Counties. Dedicated to improving the quality of life in the region, HCF supports initiatives in various areas, including education, health care, youth, community development, and more. By engaging local donors, nonprofits, and community members, the Heartland Community Foundation strives to create a vibrant, thriving Heartland community.

For more information, visit heartlandcommunityfoundation. org.