Innovia Foundation awards $446K to area nonprofits

The Innovia Foundation awarded $446,000 in grants to 48 nonprofit organizations in North Idaho through their annual Community Grants Program.

Among those awarded was a $10,000 grant to both the Friends of Scotchman Peaks Wilderness and a similar grant to the Community Coalition for Families in Boundary County.

The Scotchman Peak grant will help fund trail maintenance and help the group's Trail Ambassadors create and maintain trails. It will also fund wilderness first aid training, CPR certificate and the group's Take a Walk on the Wild Side! initiative which features staff- and volunteer-led hikes and field trips.

The grants are part of the foundation’s annual Community Grants Program, which supports education and youth development, health and wellbeing, arts and culture, economic opportunity and improved quality of life. This year, the program distributed a total of $1,089,400 in grants to 112 organizations across 20 counties in eastern Washington and North Idaho. 

The grants add to $100,000 already distributed this year in recognition of the foundation's 50th anniversary theme of "celebrating community."

“As Innovia marks 50 years of community impact, we recognize the importance of programs and activities that celebrate the people and places that make our region special," Innovia CEO Shelly O’Quinn said in a Friday news release. "In this year’s Community Grants round, our local review committees aimed to prioritize proposals that align with our 50th anniversary theme of bringing people together, while funding projects across all our impact areas." 

Nonprofit organizations form the bedrock of local communities, bringing people together to support causes that matter, O’Quinn said.

“Through Community Grants, we are honored to invest in the important work of dozens of North Idaho nonprofits, benefiting local needs from food and housing security to music education and literacy programs," she said.

In Bonner County, groups receiving grants are: Arts Alliance, Inc. (Creations), $4,000, Creative Hands Expand the Mind program; Friends of the Shelter (Better Together Animal Alliance), $10,000, volunteer program; Carousel of Smiles, Ltd., $10,500, Carousel of Smiles Fun Fair;

Clark Fork-Hope Area Senior Services, Inc., $15,000, community meal site funding; Community Cancer Services, $10,000, "Harmony in Health" program to bridge support and counseling; Festival at Sandpoint, $10,000; performance series support and inclusive ticket outreach program; 

Friends of Scotchman Peaks Wilderness, $10,000, "Take a Walk on the Wild Side" program; Idahope Families Inc., $6,000, family support initiative; NAMI Far North Idaho, $15,000, funding for Sand Creek Clubhouse;

Sandpoint Area Seniors, Inc., $10,000; program and operation funding "for the next 50 years;" Selkirk Conservation Alliance, Inc., $6,100, inclusive environmental education and youth development; and Unique Center for Athletes of All Needs, $8,000; adaptive fitness, therapy and recreation programs.

In Boundary County, groups receiving funding include: Boundary County Youth Crisis & Domestic Violence Hotline, $10,000; operation funding to support the community; Community Coalition For Families, $10,000, funding for emergency housing solutions; and Trinity Lutheran Church of Bonners Ferry, $10,000, funding for weekend supplemental food program.

In Kootenai County, groups receiving funding include: 

Boys and Girls Clubs of Kootenai County, $15,000, summer learning programs; Children's Village, $15,000, Children's Village Family Support Center funding; Coeur d'Alene Public Library Foundation, $15,000; enhancements to library's teen area;

Coeur d'Alene Backpack Program, $7,500, funding to help feed area youth in need; Coeur d'Alene Symphony Orchestra, $15,000, music to support physical, mental, behavioral and emotional health; Family Promise of North Idaho, $5,000, funding for Family Promise change agent; Growing the STEM, $10,00, STEM after-school programs;

Kootenai Health Foundation, $12,000, Heart to Heart screening and educational series;

North Idaho Pride Alliance, $15,000, outreach and volunteer support; Safe Start: Infant and Child Health and Safety, $10,000, rural education outreach program; The Literacy Project of North Idaho, $10,000, language learning expansion proejct; and TESH Inc., $7,500, funding for Camp Tesh summer program.

In Shoshone County, funding was given to: Avery School District No. 394, $3,600, school nutrition program; Kellogg Project Uplift, $3,885, Silver Valley Cares mental health fair and community training; 

Mullan Jr./Sr. High School, $5,000, Mullan High School Hospitality to provide clean clothes for needy students; and Wallace Food Bank, Inc., $10,000, funds to feed individuals and families in need.

Information: innovia.org