| Community 101 hands $5,000 in grants |
|---|
| Newberg High School metes money to Newberg F.I.S.H. and three other nonprofit agencies |
| By Laurent Bonczijk Community 101, a class at Newberg High School, dispersed grants in late June to four local nonprofit groups. Newberg F.I.S.H. (Friends In Service to Humanity) received a $2,000 grant, which the class funded with $5,000 from the Portland General Electric foundation. "It was kind of a surprise to me," F.I.S.H. public relations director Jodi Hansen said. "Our secretary got a call from the kids in the ... class," asking if F.I.S.H. wanted to apply for a grant. Hansen said she filed a one-page grant application outlining the work F.I.S.H. does; she was awarded the money at a ceremony June 26. The agency will use the money to hire a program director. "Our hope is to use (the grant money) for our Specific Assistance Program," Hansen said, explaining that the program provides emergency aid other than food. Ariel Snyder of Red School at NHS said she received a list of nonprofit agencies located in Yamhill County. "We did a survey throughout the school," Snyder said in order to decide which ones to send grant applications. Community 101 gave $2,000 to Love INC (In the Name of Christ), $500 to the SMART (Start Making A Reader Today) program at Edwards Elementary School, and $500 toward an artificial turf field at NHS. Snyder said the Community 101 program started at the beginning of the year with the bulk of the work performed during J-term. She added that the program will resume next year and along with Jerilynn Macken of Silver School she has already identified areas to improve. Macken would like to perform more fund-raisers next year, she said, while she is pushing for "better planning." They would also like to extend applications to more nonprofit groups. |