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Foundation announces grant awards

| June 11, 2019 1:00 AM

A $10,000 grant is helping the city of Bonners Ferry install a splash pad next to the municipal pool. The pad will include water features designed to be fun for everyone, including children and those who are unable to swim.

When Bonners Ferry received an Idaho Blue Cross Foundation High 5 Community Transformation Grant in 2016, the city conducted a community survey to determine factors that could be contributing to childhood obesity. One of the key issues identified by the survey was the need to increase youth activity levels.

The city intends the splash pad to address this need. Because lifeguards are not required, the pad will be open for more hours and longer seasons than the pool, giving community members a no-cost recreation option during the warmer months.

“The proposed splash pad project will complement and enhance the work that is being done to the municipal pool, resulting in a ‘water park’ that will help fulfill the need for more physical activity and recreational opportunities in our community,” said Lisa Ailport, city administrator of Bonners Ferry.

The CSGP at Innovia Foundation supports innovative programs addressing specific challenges and opportunities throughout the region that work to improve access to education, promote health and wellbeing, support arts and culture, create economic opportunity and enhance the quality of life.

Other grants ranging from $1,000 to $30,000 will support the following organizations and programs in Eastern Washington and North Idaho.

- Bonner Community Food Center, Inc. — $10,000, Bonner County; hunger relief in North Idaho.

- Food For Our Children — $3,000, Bonner County; weekend food and mid-morning snack program.

- Music Conservatory of Sandpoint — $3,800, Bonner County; Music Matters! fine arts initiative.

- Pend Oreille Arts Council — $5,400, Bonner County; Ovations performing arts educational outreach series.

- Pend Oreille Players Association — $12,000, Pend Oreille County, Washington; exterior building renovation.

- Sandpoint Area Seniors, Inc. — $3,000, Bonner County; “Let’s Eat!” Part 3, continuing and expanding project.

- Sandpoint Youth Center — $10,000, Bonner County; Sandpoint Youth Center operating budget for 2019-2020.

Founded in 1974, Innovia Foundation is a community foundation that connects donor generosity to our region’s most pressing causes and collaborates with community partners to drive transformation across Eastern Washington and North Idaho. Through donor generosity, the Foundation’s assets have grown to over $130 million, and it has awarded over $75 million in grants to organizations throughout its 20-county region.

Information: Innovia Foundation, innovia.org