$200,000 in Kiwanis grants help give voice to children. It also will help feed them
The Bradenton Kiwanis Club received requests for more than $1 million in grants to improve children’s lives this year, far more than it was able to fund.
“There is far more need than money,” said Circuit Court Judge Ed Nicholas, who serves as chairman of the club’s grants award program.
Even so, the club was able to award nearly $200,000 in grants Tuesday, shared by eight organizations.
Those funds will make a difference in young lives. Beyond the Spectrum received $13,515 for communication technology for non-verbal students. The grant will also be used to purchase technology needed to complete Interactive Smartboards.
Put more simply, the iPads and associated apps will give autistic students and others on the spectrum a voice, said Lora Carpenter.
Carpenter’s son, Scot, was the first to enroll at Beyond the Spectrum when it started operation in 2007. He is now 22, and will continue to need services into the future.
Beyond the Spectrum serves about 100 families in Manatee, Sarasota, Hillsborough and Charlotte counties and has about 85 more on a waiting list.
“We’re bursting at the seams,” Carpenter said.
Catherine Peabody, founder of Beyond the Spectrum, said the iPads help students who otherwise would be unable to speak for themselves to have a voice.
One example was a child who had never been able to say what costume they wanted to wear for Halloween who was able to communicate their desire through an iPad.
PACE Center for Girls, which provides girls and young women with an opportunity for a better future through education, counseling, training and advocacy, received the largest grant, $100,000, for its building expansion program.
“This will have a tremendous and far-reaching impact, not only on the girls that we serve but everyone who calls Manatee County home. And especially this year, PaceManatee celebrates its 30th year in our community. It’s a great start to the year, isn’t it? So thank you, it’s an extraordinarily generous grant and represents a founding leadership gift for our campaign,” said Amanda Horne, co-chair with her husband, John Horne, of PACE’s fund-raising campaign.
Also receiving Kiwanis grants Tuesday:
▪ Boy Scouts of America received $10,125 to build an aquatics boat launch for canoes and kayaks.
▪ Easter Seals Southwest Florida received $9,862 to re-key doors and replace door hardware to make its facility safer for students and staff.
▪ Girl Scouts of Southwest Florida received $11,367 for archery course shade, an ice maker, and creation of a disc golf course.
▪ Manatee Sunrise Kiwanis received $20,000 to to be used toward the purchase of a warehouse in which to store program supplies, in particular those for the Kids Against Hunger program.
▪ The Salvation Army received $5,000 for summer day camp supplies for underprivileged children.
▪ The State College of Florida Foundation received a $27,745 for the purchase of one pediatric HAL, a five-year-old medical simulator.
Since 1994, the Kiwanis Club of Bradenton, through its foundation, has awarded more than $8 million in grants to local charities.
The club developed and operated the Bradenton Trailer Park, one of the largest trailers parks in the world, from 1936 to 1997. The foundation was established to receive the net proceeds from the park and to use the interest income to benefit local nonprofits.
The Bradenton Trailer Park was sold for $8.8 million in 1997 with the foundation receiving the proceeds.
