The Greater Salina Community Foundation recently awarded more than $56,000 to 13 charitable projects and organizations in Saline County. The following organizations received funding:• Ashby House, Ltd., $5,000 to install a key-card entry security door to the front of the building.• USD 306 Southeast of Saline, $5,000 to purchase a CNC Plasma Table so that Agriculture Mechanics students can learn new technology and design projects.• Kansas Wesleyan University, $4,684.90 to improve the sound system for Fitzpatrick Auditorium with new microphones and amplifier.• Salina Art Center, $4,280 to assist with incorporating scientific concepts and vocabulary into art classes.• USD 306 Southeast of Saline, $5,000 to purchase a STEAM Maker Cart for use of engineering and design process.• Saline County Department of Senior Services, $4,219 for providing food and healthcare for pet companions of Homebound Meals On Wheels seniors.• Sunrise Presbyterian Church, $5,000 for assisting with science and art teacher salaries throughout the summer of 2021.• Big Brothers Big Sisters of Salina, $3,570 to help fund an updated bilingual website.• The Domestic Violence Association of Central Kansas, $5,000 to purchase acoustic panels for the facility in ensuring client’s peace and privacy.• Salina Emergency Aid Food Bank, $3,000 to help fund 20 garden kits. These completed tool kits will be available for use at the Food Bank’s Community Garden, eliminating a financial barrier to growing one’s own food and engaging in this activity.• USD 306 Southeast of Saline, $1,445 to purchase a shielded enclosure for a laser engraver to provide a safer working environment for students.• Martin Luther King, Jr. Child Development Center, $5,000 for replacing the shade structures on both playgrounds at the center.• Stiefel Theatre, $5,000 to assist with the new Stiefel Theatre Music School - Piano Lab project that will take place in the Stiefel Watson Room.This round of grants was made possible by four funds at the community foundation: the Dane G. Hansen Community Grant Fund, which supports projects and programs that improve the community’s quality of life; the Fund for Early Childhood Care, Education and Development, established by Mark and Jane Berkley to better prepare children in Ottawa and Saline Counties for kindergarten; the Kansas Health Foundation Fund, which supports the public health of Saline County; and the L.P. “Pat” Mullen Fund, which supports hands-on learning opportunities for youth in the areas of arts and humanities and science, technology and invention.Applications for the foundation’s next community grant cycle open July 1 and are due by 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, August 15, 2021. Detailed application and fund criteria are available at www.gscf.org/about-grants.

GSCF awards more than $56,000 to projects, organizations