Recently, the members of the Legacy Youth Alliance awarded eight grants totaling $10,000. Legacy Youth Alliance members live in Wapello County and attend Cardinal, EBF, Pekin and Ottumwa High Schools. All grant proposals submitted to the Legacy Youth Alliance must be for a youth-led project or a youth-serving program. Funding priorities of the Legacy Youth Alliance are impactful projects that address literacy, reading proficiency, post-secondary education, physical, mental or social wellness. The organizations and projects funded are:
- Friends of Eddyville Public Library for their 2019 Children’s Summer Reading Program
- Latinas Latinos al Exito Inc. OHS al Exito students are partnering with the Ottumwa Public Library to offer Bilingual Storytime for 3 & 4-year-old Latino children.
- OHS Class of 2020 for their Bulldog Pride Project which will display flags from every country that is represented in OHS student body. They will also purchase plaques to recognize outstanding academic achievements.
- Wapello County 4-H Exposition, Inc., is purchasing a Daisy Inflatable Shooting Range to provide firearm safety instruction, as well as, handling safety, and proper use for shooting sports and hunting.
- Pick Wick Early Childhood Center receives their grant funding to purchase additional sensory equipment enabling them to expand their current Sensory Room at Pickwick Early Childhood Center.
- Ottumwa Community School Foundation received funding assistance for bus transportation to the Literacy Fair for 3rd grade students and the Technology Fair for 4th grade students in the Ottumwa Community School District. Both events are held at Indian Hills Community College.
- YMCA of Ottumwa will be purchasing new iPads and specialty building blocks for their hands-on S.T.E.A.M learning experiences for the YMCA preschool students.
Maggie Voyles and Jenny Faybik, Seniors from EBF High School, were particularly excited about the grant proposal from the Friends of Eddyville Public Library. According to the girls, “The program aligns with our funding focus on elementary reading proficiency and there is not a lot of structured activities for children in Eddyville during summer break.” Since 2017, the Legacy Youth Alliance has granted nearly $40,000 to youth causes in Wapello County. For more information about the Legacy Youth Alliance visit their website page.
