Six projects undertaken by organizations in and around Heartland Rural Electric Cooperative’s service area have been selected to receive $5,000 each through Heartland’s Concern for Community grant program.
"As a cooperative, we understand that our success is directly linked to the well-being of our communities,” said Mark Scheibe, Heartland CEO. “We're proud to support these projects that will make a lasting difference in the lives of our members."
The Concern for Community program provides grants of up to $5,000 for capital improvement projects throughout the Heartland service area, which covers parts of 12 counties in eastern Kansas. Capital improvement projects are those that involve investment in structures or equipment that will last for many years.
As a non-profit, member-owned cooperative, Heartland issues capital credits to members each year, but sometimes those capital credits go unclaimed. Because those monies were intended to be returned to the communities from which they came, Heartland's Board of Directors decided to use those unclaimed funds for community grants and started the Concern for Community program in 2019.
This year, six applications out of 28 received were approved for funding by the Heartland board.
Projects selected for funding are as follows:
- Bourbon County Fair Association was awarded $5,000 for picnic tables at the pavilion and a new sound system in the show barn at the fairgrounds in Fort Scott.
- Linn County Historical Museum in Pleasanton was awarded $5,000 for numerous repairs and improvements.
- Restore the Four was awarded $5,000 to help repair the roof of the small animal building at the Crawford County Fairgrounds outside Girard.
- Stark 1888 Event Committee was awarded $5,000 for repairs and upgrades at the Stark community ballfield.
- USD 101 Erie was awarded $5,000 to assist with construction of a new animal science building in the high school.
- USD 346 Jayhawk-Linn was awarded $5,000 for lighting and sound equipment at the high school auditorium in Mound City.
Applications were accepted in the month of July and selected by the Heartland Board of Directors in August. Heartland plans to reopen applications in summer 2024 for the next round of funding.
Find more information on our Concern for Community page.