Lawrence`s Oldest Charity Receives Largest Community Grant

NEWSLETTER
Spring 2014
Community Grant Highlight
Lawrence’s Oldest Charity
Receives Largest Community Grant
Other Community
Grants included:
$7,500 to the Lawrence Community
Nursery School to renovate its
playground to comply with current
safety standards,
$4,000 to Douglas County CASA
(Court Appointed Special
Advocates) to recruit and retain more
volunteers to protect, advocate,
mentor and monitor the 49 abused
and neglected children on the waiting
list for a CASA,
$5,575 to Douglas County Dental
Clinic to purchase a new mobile dental
unit to provide on-site care to children
in schools,
35
organizations received grants as part of our annual Community Grants
competition.
The Social Service League, which has continuously served Lawrence residents
in need since the 19th century, received $15,000 for repairs to the historic stone
building at 905 Rhode Island Street that houses its thrift store.
The league sells used clothing and household items at the store, and uses the
sale proceeds to help people who need eye exams and eyeglasses, shoes and
other necessities. It also gives basic goods to clients referred by other community
organizations.
The thrift store operation has moved temporarily while construction is underway at 9th and New Hampshire. The DCCF grant will allow a restoration crew to
make repairs to 905 Rhode Island while the building is vacant.
$2,000 to support the new Baldwin
iCan Bike Camp, which will teach
individuals age 8 and older who have a
disability how to ride a bike,
$1,500 to Americana Music Academy
to purchase instruments for its Kids’
Music Camp.
A list of all 2014 Community
Grants is available at
www.dccfoundation.org.
Lunch and Judys
Lawrence Public Library director Brad Allen thanks
Judy Wright and Judy Keller for an inspiring
presentation titled The Do’s and Don’ts of
Fundraising. The United Way of Douglas County
and the library joined the community foundation
in sponsoring the February 25 event held at the
Carnegie Building.
Lecomption Community Pride Receives Gift
Lecompton Community Pride, which is using the old
Lecompton High School building as a community center,
received a $2,500 donation to its community foundation
fund from the Monsanto Corporation. Pictured left to right:
Kansas Pride Coordinator Trudy Rice and her husband, Ron,
Lecompton Community Pride leaders Elsie Middleton, Sandy
Jacquot, and Roy Paslay, and Monsanto’s Mike Glasnapp.
Jaquot is also the mayor of Lecompton.
Sandra J. Shaw
Community
Health Park
The Sandra J. Shaw Community
Health Park honors the memory
of the longtime Bert Nash
Community Healthy Center
director. Sandi worked for Bert
Nash for thirty years, and served
as director for the last twentytwo. She died in 2010.
New Trail Coming to Central Lawrence
T
he local nature education organization Outside
for a Better Inside, spearheaded by longtime real
estate executive John McGrew, has raised $60,000 in
private dollars using its community foundation fund to
match a $48,000 grant from the Sunflower Foundation
to build a nature trail on the eight acre site of the former
Veterans of Foreign Wars post at 2nd and Alabama Streets.
The trail will be part of a new park named in honor
of the late Sandra Shaw, longtime director of the Bert
Nash Community Mental Health Center. The site has an
old pond and some hardwood forest. The Westar Energy
Green Team is building a shelter as a park enhancement.
Advocates hope the new trail will eventually link to a
network of trails running through Burcham and Constant
Parks to downtown and East Lawrence.
Outside for a Better Inside continues
to raise funds for trail amenities.
Donor Highlight
The popular Pollinators mural is expected to be refashioned on the wall of a new building at
Ninth and New Hampshire that will be within the cultural corridor at the center of the creative
placemaking project.
Creative Placemaking Project
Captures Donor Interest
A
project to transform Lawrence’s Ninth Street between Massachusetts
and Delaware Streets into a lively arts and cultural corridor received a
boost when community foundation donor Beth Harrison made a significant
grant from her community foundation fund to help launch the effort.
The so-called creative placemaking project, led by the Lawrence Arts
Center, is a finalist for a $500,000 grant from the national grantmaking collaborative ArtPlace America. Susan
Tate, Lawrence Arts Center director, “Having both listening arts and
said that local investment in the proj- visual arts in public places gives us
ect is crucial to winning an award.
all the chance to appreciate them
Creative placemaking seeks to use
public art and cultural amenities to and stretches our imaginations.”
add to an area’s vibrancy and high—Beth Harrison
light its unique identity.
Harrison, a musician, and her late husband Phil’s family have had a longstanding interest in local arts and the Lawrence Arts Center. “In a time
when we are cutting or trying to cut the arts from public school education,
it becomes even more important to bring the arts to everybody,” she said.
“Having both listening arts and visual arts in public places gives us all the
chance to appreciate them and stretches our imaginations.”
ArtPlace America will announce awards in June.
Board of Directors
Webster Golden
Chair
John Elmore
Harry Gibson
Patricia Long
Mike McGrew
Vickie Randel
Reggie Robinson
Dan Sabatini
Dolph Simons, Jr.
Evan Williams
Chip Blaser
Executive Director
[email protected]
Connecting the diverse
citizens and communities
of Douglas County
through charitable action.
900 Massachusetts, Suite 406
Lawrence, KS 66044
785-843-8727
785-843-8735 fax
www.dccfoundation.org
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Inside this issue:
NEWSLETTER
Spring 2014
New Trail Coming to
Central Lawrence
The Social Service League received a $15,000 grant
for repair and maintenance of its thrift shop building.
Creative Placemaking Project