Rock Rapids, Iowa — The response to the newest type of grant offered by the Lyon County Riverboat Foundation has been greater than anyone expected.
The foundation is the nonprofit license-holder for the Grand Falls Casino, and gets a certain percentage of the gaming take to give back to the community.
David Childress, the foundation’s executive assistant says that what’s billed as “a new and easy way to secure a $2000 grant for a special project” was very well received by the surrounding communities of Grand Falls Casino and Golf Resort. He says 209 applications were received, requesting funds for everything from computers to concrete steps. He says applications were received from South Dakota, Iowa and Minnesota, including towns and cities of Luverne, Sibley, Harrisburg and Sioux Falls just to name a few.
On Tuesday evening, July 21st at 7:00 PM, he says the foundation will give $100,000 in mini grants to over fifty of the organizations that applied. The award ceremony will be held at the Events Center at Grand Falls Casino and Golf Resort.
One stipulation of the new mini grants is that Organizations must be present in order to be awarded funds.
President of the Riverboat Foundation Jeff Gallagher says that they are truly excited about this new way of making funds available to the area. He says it’s a simple and easy way. He says they hope many people will come to Grand Falls Casino that night to see which groups will be receiving money toward their projects.
Gallagher says they were really surprised by the volume of grant requests. He says they hoped to get a hundred applications. He says, QUOTE “To get over 200 is amazing. There should be plenty of smiles and a few disappointments as we draw out the grant winners.”
