By: NICOLAS FIERRO
Salina Post
Kansas STARBASE of Salina was more than grateful to receive a generous $1,000 technology grant from Clearwave Fiber during a free family-friendly event at Oakdale Park.
On Tuesday, the grant was accepted through Kansas STARBASE's nonprofit, Kansas STARBASE Inc. In order for the agency to receive the grant, a representative of the nonprofit had to be in attendance. KS Senator for the 36th District, Elaine Bowers made an appearance at the event to accept the grant for STARBASE, as she is a board member for the nonprofit organization.
The grant will be used to further the agency's commitment to STEM education and youth development. On February of this year, Kansas STARBASE in Salina suffered with funds, after the agency was temporarily suspended due to a continuing resolution gap in U.S. government funding.
KS STARBASE Salina Director, Billie Jones commented on how involved the nonprofit is in helping the agency move forward.
"Since the federal funding gap, I think Starbase has gotten its name out," said Jones. "Our nonprofit is very involved with what we do and when the grant came forward, Bowers decided to come down and join us."
Jones added, they plan on using this grant from Clearwave for technological driven purposes.
Clearwave Fiber Senior VP of Marketing, Shelley Hallier stated this grant provided, is to help Salina "grow and thrive."
"Whenever we come into a community, we are passionate about enabling that community to grow and thrive," said Hallier. "We believe to invest in a community, by going beyond just building a network and we need to find organizations like Starbase that are helping the youth."
Hallier stated Clearwave Fiber has given donations to other various programs throughout Kansas, such as Lansing High School's robotics program and Mill Valley High School's (Shawnee) robotics program.
The event on Tuesday had a great crowd of community members join for day full of interactive building stations, a collaborative challenge zone and a creative competition with prizes — all designed to inspire the next generation of innovators.