Spring 2010 Community Fund grant recipients

• Central Montana Head Start, Lewistown, $5,000 — To help bring the organization’s building up to code and continue to serve 116 underprivileged children in a five-county area.
   
• Clark Fork Coalition, Missoula, $5,000 — To help launch the “Hands on the Ranch” program, which will connect Anaconda and Deer Lodge high school students with stream restoration projects in the upper Clark Fork watershed.
   
• Prairie Development Center, Glendive, $10,000 — To help replace an aging heating and cooling system to serve the business incubator, which supports many businesses and nonprofit groups.
   
• Educational Opportunities for Central Montana, Lewistown, $4,200 — To supply the science lab with three laptop computers. This partnership with Montana State University-Northern provides opportunities for central Montana residents to take college-level courses.
   
• Florence Crittenton Home, Helena, $10,000 — To help enlist a coordinator to provide independent living training about budgeting and money management. Teen mothers and mothers-to-be live at the home, which introduces them to healthy, functional and stable living.
   
• Froid Public Library, Froid, $10,000 — To install a geothermal heating and cooling system in the library. The town of Froid is constructing a 3,000-square-foot library attached to the Froid Community Center.
   
• Great Falls Public Library, Great Falls, $3,000 — To help implement an independent reading project to improve literacy among young adults in Cascade County.
   
• HANDS (Heroes and Neighbors Down at the School), Great Falls, $1,000 — To support the continuation of programs for the summers of 2011 and 2012. The program provides children with a safe learning environment until their parents get home from work.
   
• Lavina Senior Center, Lavina, $5,568 — To repair the front enclosed entryway of the center, the only handicapped-accessible, public facility in town. It hosts community gatherings, meetings, town council activities, weddings, birthdays and other social events.
   
• Madison Farm to Fork, Ennis, $9,800 — To purchase a heat exchanger enabling the farm to connect the hot springs with the greenhouse. This organization promotes local sustainable agriculture through the support of local growers, producers and consumers.
   
• Montana Conservation Corps, Bozeman, $3,179 — To support Montana Youth Service Expeditions, summer programs that immerse teens in monthlong conservation-service adventures that connect them to nature, develop community service, teach practical job skills, develop leadership and teach personal responsibility.
   
• National Center for Appropriate Technology, Butte, $10,000 — To offset the costs for some communities in Montana to participate in weatherization, education and conservation programs that help meet energy needs for people, including low-income families, across the state.
   
• Richland Opportunities, Sidney, $8,000 — To expand the recycling program, which helps this organization provide residential, vocational and transportation services for individuals with developmental disabilities.
   
• Sanders County Community Development, Thompson Falls, $6,522 — To provide hardware and baskets for hanging flower baskets on Main Street, part of a beautification project in downtown Thompson Falls to enhance local businesses and promote tourism.
   
• Birch Creek Outdoor Education Center, Dillon, $8,731 — To replace 80 old mattresses used in facilities for the University of Montana Western school’s outdoor education programs and meeting facilities.

Fall 2010 Community Fund grant recipients

• Belt Golden Agers, Belt, $10,000 — to assist a senior citizens group in providing a more energy-efficient and comfortable meeting facility by replacing insulation, and upgrading windows and doors.
   
• Education Foundation for Billings Public Schools BACKPACK, Billings, $6,000 — to continue a pilot program started last year that provides weekend food backpacks to chronically hungry low-income students.
   
• Evelyn Cameron Heritage, Inc., Terry, $10,000 — to fund a required second entry and exit in the back of the old Rialto Theatre, the new home of the Evelyn Cameron Cultural Center.
   
• Harlem Blaine County Ambulance III, Harlem, $2,500 — to purchase a stretcher to safely transport patients from homes with narrow passageways and tight areas to a gurney. 
   
• Havre Area Chamber of Commerce, Havre, $1,000 — to continue support of Leadership High School, now in its 10th year, which provides opportunities for high school juniors to learn the importance of leadership skills, community involvement and diversity.
   
• Hopa Mountain, Bozeman, $4,000 — to support its Youth Leadership Program, which includes outdoor problem-solving games, science education and community service learning initiatives, for teens living in Gallatin and Park counties.
   
• Libby K-12 Schools, Libby, $9,184 — to support the Kootenai Outdoor Adventure Project, a successful program for at-risk students that engages them in outdoor adventure programs and environmental service projects. The program is administered by the school district.
   
• Montana Natural History Center, Missoula, $9,000 — to complete the creation of an outdoor classroom to teach about native plants, make repairs to a building used to store teaching supplies and build a shade shelter at Fort Missoula.
   
• Montana Natural Resources Youth Camp, Inc., Missoula, $3,700 — to support a weeklong outdoor education program focused on ecosystems, natural resource management, stewardship, conservation and leadership for up to 40 Montana youth each summer.
   
• Montana School for the Deaf & Blind, Great Falls, $6,300 — to support the school’s Transition Program, which provides employment training and experience, along with life skills development. 
   
• Museum of the Rockies, Bozeman, $2,500 — to allow eligible Head Start families a free annual museum membership, part of a team effort between the museum and Head Start to provide financially disadvantaged children the opportunity to visit a museum.
    
• The University of Montana spectrUM Discovery Area, Missoula, $10,000 — to bring a hands-on science show to three Native American reservations, where it will reach 1,000 students as well as their families and communities. 
   
• Thompson Falls School District, Thompson Falls, $9,980 — to purchase a PlasmaCam, a vocational training tool that allows students to design projects on a computer and provide a visual link between the designs on-screen and the shapes being cut.
   
• Virginia City Preservation Alliance, Ennis, $2,500 — to help complete the relocation and restoration of the historic Madison County cabin of Frank Bird Linderman, a noted author, artist, editor and advocate for Montana’s Native Americans. 
   
• Wheatland County Senior Citizens Center, Harlowton, $10,000 — to complete a fundraising campaign for a new handicapped-accessible van to transport homebound seniors to medical appointments, errands and to the center for lunch. 
   
• Wibaux County Nursing Home, Wibaux, $1,336 — to help purchase 16 two-way radios to improve communication and safety, and allowing 40 patients to stay in their homes. 
     
• Writing Coaches of Missoula, Missoula, $2,000 — to support a growing program that pairs adult mentors with students in the Missoula schools and works to improve writing and critical thinking skills.