By BECKY KISER
Hays Post
The Heartland Community Foundation (HCF) has $300,000 in grant money to award thanks to the generosity of the Dane G. Hansen Foundation in Logan. HCF Executive Director Sandy Jacobs wants it all gone.
“We’ve been very, very lucky over the past couple of years with the contributions from the Dane G. Hansen Foundation Community Grant Fund to the Heartland Community Foundation and the three counties we serve–Ellis, Rooks and Trego,” said Jacobs.
“In previous years, we’ve had $50,000 in each of those counties to be able to put into grants for all kinds of needs in the communities, whether it’s beautification, education, healthcare, whatever the need might be.
“This year, we have the opportunity for another $50,000. So this grant period–March 15 through May 15–we’re actually awarding $100,000 in Ellis, $100,000 in Rooks, and $100,000 in Trego counties.”
The deadline is tight–midnight Sunday, May 15, but it is all done online. Applications are available at www.heartlandcommunityfoundation.org.
Ten applications have already been submitted; 14 more are in the draft phase. Jacobs said HCF expected another dozen or so, and is encouraging residents in the three counties to still apply.
She isn’t sure why there have been fewer applications this cycle. “I don’t know whether people think their projects aren’t interesting, they’re waiting until the last minute, or maybe they haven’t applied before,” she pondered. But with recent reminders, the pace has picked up.
“I’ve had a number of people tell me this week that have made the determination that they’re going to do it now and have done it in one day.”
With the Hansen gift doubled from previous years, it allows HCF the ability to greater influence community needs and award grants relating to the following areas for communities within the Hansen Foundation network:
• Arts
• Community Beautification
• Education
• Environmental Programs or Projects
• Health & Human Service Needs
• Inter-generational Programs or Projects
According to Jacobs, the Hansen Community Grant Fund serves 26 counties in western Kansas.
“The commitment of Dane G. Hansen himself to rural America was just outstanding,” Jacobs said.
“They are about quality-of-life issues, making sure the needs of these small rural America are met in whatever way possible. Their generosity is almost beyond belief.
“We thank them every day for thinking of rural America the way they do,” she added.
For more information or help with filling out a grant application, call Sandy Jacobs at (785) 621-4090.