Grants from the Hollywood Casino at Kansas Speedway totaling $492,929 were approved recently to be spent in Wyandotte County.
The Hollywood Casino Grant Selection Committee, which is through the Unified Government, selected the award recipients, and the grants were unanimously approved by the Unified Government Commission. This year, 17 of 39 grant applications were approved for funding, according to UG officials.
The theme of the grants continued to be promoting health in Wyandotte County.
Some minor changes were made to the grant selection process this year, and the process also will be under study for the future, according to UG officials. There is some commission support for evaluating the results of the grants.
Joe Connor, who coordinated the grant selection committee for the UG, said there had been some changes to the application process and requirements. This year, there may be more oversight of how the funds are spent, and the results of the programs.
This year’s approved grant recipients include:
– Catholic Charities of Northeast Kansas, “New Roots for Refugees Program,” $50,000;
– The Family Conservancy, “Healthy Parents, Healthy Kids,” $25,000;
– Caritas Clinics (Duchesne Clinic), “Evidence-Based Diabetes Prevention,” $45,000;
– Kansas City Community Gardens Inc., “Healthy Gardeners Wyandotte,” $30,000;
– Bethel Neighborhood Center, “Youth Fit 4 Life,” $39,000;
– Southwest Boulevard Family Health Care, “Let’s Exercise; Expanding Family Health Care Fitness,” $23,200;
– Freewheels for Kids Inc., “Healthy for Life,” $20,000;
– El Centro Inc., “Promotores de Salud,” $29,679.14;
– Turner House Clinic Inc., “Turner House Healthy Lifestyles,” 32,500;
– The Menorah Legacy Foundation, “The Kansas City Beans and Greens Program,” $20,000;
– Riverview Health Services Inc., “Diabetes Education and Disease Management Program,”$45,000;
– Downtown Shareholders, “KCK Farmers’ Market,” $23,540;
– Harvesters, “Harvesters’ Wyandotte Healthy Eating Programs,” $25,000;
– YMCA, “Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health,” $20,000;
– Rosedale Development Association Inc., “Rosedale Healthy Kids,” $30,000;
– Bike Share KC, “Safe Routes to School: Access and Implementation in KCK,” $25,000;
– Shepherd’s Center of Kansas City, Kan., “Activity for Healthy Aging,” $10,000.
For a list of all the applicants, see the UG agenda for the June 5 meeting, page 11, online at www.wycokck.org under Public Meetings, agendas, Board of Commissioners.