Grand Canyon Club awards six community service grants

After a year of little activity due to challenges surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, the Rotary Club of the Grand Canyon has returned in a big way by recently participating in a community clean-up event and awarding six $500 community grants to local nonprofit service organizations.

During a July 4 community event, the club presented the following $500 community grants:

·       Spirit of the Canyon was presented with a grant to help fund a school project to teach hydroponics to students. The organization recently purchased a 25-passenger bus that it is converting into an off-grid living space complete with solar panels, hydroponics, water tanks. The organization will be using this space as part of an educational program to show adults and youth how to live off grid and grow their own food. The entire project is expected to cost $10,000.

·       The Grand Canyon Food Pantry, Inc. was presented a grant to fund several projects over the next year, including developing simple recipes for foods distributed by the pantry.

·       Kaibab Learning Center. The grant will be used to help fund a greenhouse to grow vegetables and teach children about healthy food decisions. The center cares for the children of those living in the community. It serves families from Valle, Tusayan, and the Grand Canyon Village. The greenhouse will the center to grow different foods for the children to try. Not only will children learn how to care for plants, but teachers will be able to teach them respect for the plants, and be able to make every child feel included with the jobs they will get for the greenhouse. Children get jobs in class, but what they enjoy the most is anything that is related to water and dirt. With the greenhouse they will be able to work in groups of two or one on one with a teacher to go out and water, check, and harvest items.

       Canyon Community Alliance was presented a grant to assist with costs to start a youth program to obtain materials, marketing, equipment, and space rental. The grant will help sustain the youth program project during the summer. The Canyon Community Alliance is trying to build a community center in the Valle area as a long-term goal.

·       Victim Witness Protection. The non-profit agency is contracted by Coconino County to provide a wide variety of services to victims of crime and those in crisis. These services include safety planning, court advocacy, victim compensation, counseling, on-scene response alongside law enforcement, K9 advocacy and more. The grant will help provide basic essential needs such as toiletries, groceries, clothing, etc. for victims of crime. 

·       Tusayan Fire District was presented a grant for a portable Thermal Imaging Camera that “sees what we can’t see with our own eyes, hot or cold spots, occasionally even the location of a victim in a smoky situation.” This is a smaller TIC that “can be used to quickly size up m the situation before the first hose is charged. It’s a strong support tool for the officer during the response or the rescue team that may be on standby.

 
 
 
Rob Gossard of the Rotary Club of the Grand Canyon taking part in a recent Community Garden Clean-Up Day in Tusayan. Club members joined volunteers from other service organizations to help clean up the local park.