Our Valley Our Future announces first grant recipients

Our Valley Our Future / Nuestro Valle Nuestro Futuro has awarded its first grants to organizations leading projects and programs in the Our Valley Action Plan.
The money is meant to help Our Valley lead partners get their projects or programs moving toward a successful conclusion. All 149 projects and programs in the Action Plan, which was
released in November, were identified by residents as ones that will improve the region’s quality of life.
The first grant recipients and their projects:
Wenatchee Valley Museum & Cultural Center
Project: Wenatchee Valley Museum & Cultural Center major redesign
Our Valley action title: Learn 1.3 / Major Resign of the Wenatchee Valley Museum & Cultural Center
Grant amount: $5,000
Uses: The grant will help pay for a part-time coordinator who will provide administrative and logistical support during the public phase of the museum redesign’s $6.5 million capital campaign.
Apple STEM Network
Project: Computer science in middle schools
Our Valley action title: Learn 3.4 / STEM Programs
Grant amount: $1,500
Uses: The funding will pay for training in computer science for teachers in the Wenatchee, Eastmont and Cashmere school districts.
The Hunter’s Wife
Project: Tread Lightly Friday expansion
Our Valley action title: Sustain 1.6 / Tread Lightly Friday
Grant amount: $700
Uses: The funding will pay for a logo and window stickers to further promote and brand the environmentally friendly activity and to recognize participating businesses.
“All three recipients are collaborating with others and have dedicated their own resources to seeing the projects to fruition,” said Steve Maher, coordinator of Our Valley Our Future / Nuestro
Valle Nuestro Futuro. “The museum grant will generate more funds for a much-needed exhibit redesign. The Apple STEM grant will help the organization grow beyond its planning stages.
And the Tread Lightly Friday grant will further establish an activity that integrates sustainability into work places and the tourism industry.”
The initial batch of grants is the first of four that Our Valley will award this year. Up coming application deadlines are May 1, August 1 and Nov. 1. The grant application is available to Our
Valley lead partners on the Community Foundation of NCW website.
The grant funds come via the Community Foundation of NCW and the United Way of Chelan and Douglas Counties. The two jointly applied on behalf of Our Valley for support from
Philanthropy Northwest, with funding through The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The $130,000 is to be distributed by Our Valley over a three-year period.
In keeping with Our Valley’s principles, applicants need to be identified as a lead partner in the Our Valley Action Plan; they need to demonstrate they are collaborating with others on their
project and reaching across jurisdictional and cultural barriers; and the project must be “action ready.”
For more information on Our Valley Our Future / Nuestro Valle Nuestro Futuro, including a downloadable copy of its Action Plan, please visit www.ourvalleyourfuture.org.
###