Grant awards help Ward County students
INSPIRITUS Community Health Foundation has given Ward County Schools $3,000 for the purchase of personnel hygiene supplies for students. The foundation also is providing additional dollars to Minot Public School Foundation for its Back2Basics hybrid pantry.
Schools sharing in the $3,000 are Nedrose, United, Sawyer, Kenmare, Surrey, South Prairie, Lewis & Clark-Berthold/Plaza, according to the Ward County Superintendent of Schools Office, which coordinated the grant application.
As costs go up it gets harder for some families to keep up with the rising demand for personnel hygiene products for their children, the office stated in a news release. The INSPIRITUS foundation grant is helping Ward County schools meet those needs through purchase of items such as feminine hygiene items, soap, shampoo/conditioner, tissues, deodorant, comb/brush combo, toothpaste and toothbrushes.
The Back2Basics program at Minot schools offers personal hygiene products, back to school supplies and winter clothing and gear for students districtwide. There also is a food pantry for students and their families, with locations at Washington and Hoeven Elementary Schools and Minot North High School.
Jamie Swenson, executive director at Minot Public Schools Foundation, said the foundation has been a previous recipient of the INSPIRITUS Twice Blessed matching grant program for the hybrid pantry. This year, INSPIRITUS will match donations to the foundation of up to $7,500.
“What’s nice about this grant is we can help our students in ways that traditional taxpayer dollars can’t cover. It’s still giving students what they need without cutting into a school’s budget,” Swenson said.
In a separate grant award, Montana-Dakota Utilities provided $2,000 to Ward County schools for automated external defibrillator (AED) batteries.