Two Mid-Missouri nonprofits receive grants for strengthening community
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Two Mid-Missouri not-for-profits will get grants for more than $100,000 to help them serve local communities.
The Missouri Community Service Commission announced six AmeriCorps grant recipients Tuesday morning, two of which are in Mid-Missouri.
The AmeriCorps grants are meant to strengthen communities through service, according to the news release. The Food Bank for Central and Northeast Missouri in Columbia received an operational grant and Branches at the Lake in Osage Beach -- which tries to improve quality of life in the Lake area -- received a planning grant.
The Food Bank operational grant is nearly $132,000, with a $60,000 local match.
A planning grant supports an organization while it prepares for an AmeriCorps program grant, while an operational grant supports an organization while establishing an AmeriCorps program. In order to qualify for AmeriCorps, programs have to address one of six areas: disaster services, education, economic opportunity, environmental stewardship, healthy futures and veteran and military families.
Acting Director for the Missouri Department of Economic Development Michelle Hataway said the projects chosen for these grants are transforming Missouri.
“Our Missouri Community Service Commission team is helping Missourians prosper through its partnership with AmeriCorps,” Hataway said.
Branches for the Lake leadership said Tuesday that they're not comfortable discussing the award yet. The grant announcement said Branches for the Lake is "developing a multi-use recreational trail that will increase connectivity to schools, businesses, healthcare providers, and government services."
The Food Bank for Central and Northeast Missouri said it will use the grant for "addressing issues of food-insecurity and food access across a 32-county region in central and northeast Missouri."
