Kiwanis awards grants

Beloit, Wisconsin, Daily News
http://www.beloitdailynews.com/articles/2009/05/01/news/top_news/comm101.txt

The Kiwanis Club of Beloit has awarded $2,835 in grants for nine area projects.

“These grants would not be possible without a generous community which supports our June golf play day and November pancake day,” said Sue Kurth, club secretary. “We're also grateful for those who donate on our Peanut Days and those who buy gum from Kiwanis gumball machines.”

Club committees and the amounts they awarded in grants are listed below:

Young Children Priority One Committee
•    $700 to purchase a portable ramp for the home of a two-year-old disabled child.

Youth Services Committee
•    $350 for Merrill Community Center for summer program materials.
•    $300 to the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program to buy materials for use in its Intergenerational After-School Program.
•    $300 to Beloit Historical Society to rent/purchase porta-potties for use during May school tours by area third graders.
•    $250 to Big Brothers Big Sisters to purchase supplies for its Lunch Buddies program.

Community Services Committee
•    $300 to Home Companion Registry of Family Services to educate caregivers on issues and diseases affecting their elderly clients.
•    $300 to Caritas for prescription drug assistance to those with life-threatening illnesses.
•    $200 to Neighborhood Housing Services for home ownership education classes.
•    $135 to Beloit Senior Center for a new copier/fax machine.

The club also annually sends two disabled students to camp for a week, helps provide scholarships for members of the Kiwanis-sponsored Key Club at Beloit Memorial High School, and recognizes sixth and seventh graders at area schools each quarter in its Bring Up Grades (BUG) program.

In addition, the club is involved in service projects such as making Easter baskets for children of families using food pantries at Caritas and the roadside cleanup of a two-mile segment on Highway 213, reading to kids in schools and giving each student a book to keep, delivering for Meals on Wheels and ringing bells for the Salvation Army.