Fourteen recipients will receive Education Partnership grants for 2015 totaling more than $9,500. The recipients will receive the matching funds from the Great Plains Annual Conference for a variety of innovative projects that support the goals of the conference public education initiative. The mini-grants are in amounts up to $1,000.
The Rev. Stephanie Ahlschwede, who chaired the grant committee, said the group chose not to fund requests for school supplies this year, placing the emphasis instead on systemic issues that had not been funded in the previous cycle.
“The grant committee was impressed by the commitment of our congregations to their local schools, teachers, and students,” Ahlschwede said. “This was backed up by clear evidence of careful planning and a creative spirit designed to leverage existing resources for the greatest benefit to the community.”
She said the committee received many proposals for funds to assist students with school supplies.
“Due to the large number of similar proposals, and our confidence in our local congregations’ ability to find creative ways to meet these needs, we chose instead to fund programs with an emphasis on capacity-building, long-term community partnerships, and new projects for which grant funds served as seed money,” Ahlschwede said.
This year’s recipients and the programs funded are: