Columbia Falls Kids Foundation awarded $155,000 in grants

The Columbia Falls Kids Foundation received $155,000 for the renovation of the old Glacier Gateway Elementary School building, the Whitefish Community Foundation announced recently.

The building serves as the new home for the Boys & Girls Club of Glacier Country, Land to Hand, Ruis Wrestling Academy and the Gateway to Early Learning childcare center. The grant included $100,000 from Whitefish Community Foundation, $25,000 from Schellinger Construction and the Schellinger family, and additional support from the Tracy Foundation and the AGL Foundation. 

The new location allowed the Boys & Girls Club to triple its capacity and serve up to 150 children and teens in Columbia Falls with high-quality after-school and summer programs. Gateway to Early Learning will be able to serve 50 additional infants, toddlers and pre-school age children. Land to Hand will be able to expand their Backpack Assistance Program, create a new food pantry and offer farm-to-table programming in a commercial kitchen. The Ruis Wrestling Academy will be able to provide Columbia Falls wrestlers with a facility to practice year-round and build a traveling team with the potential for students to attract offers for college athletic scholarships.

“This grant provides essential and timely resources to accelerate our efforts to re-purpose an old building into a safe, welcoming hub for youth-focused organizations,” Columbia Falls Kids Foundation President Don Bennett said. “Together, we will create a space where collaboration and shared purpose inspire our young people to realize their full potential in life.”

Land to Hand is planning to build a commercial kitchen in the building and the Boys and Girls Club is looking at security upgrades. The club has been in the building almost a year now.

Whitefish Community Foundation’s Major Community Project Grant Program is dedicated to helping nonprofit organizations complete capital projects that will have a significant and positive effect on the Flathead Valley. The program was formed in 2010 and has awarded nearly $1.5 million to projects identified and selected by the foundation’s board of directors. 

Funding for the Major Community Project Grant Program comes from the Circle of Giving, Whitefish Community Foundation’s core group of donors who give $5,000 or more annually to support the grant programs and mission of the foundation.

To learn more about the foundation’s 25th anniversary initiatives and opportunities to get involved, visit whitefishcommunityfoundation.org/25th-anniversary or contact President/CEO Alan Davis at (406) 863-1781 or alan@whitefishcommunityfoundation.org.