East Grand Rapids — New kitchen play equipment for kindergartners, support for the robotics team, online resources for teachers — all of these and more are being supported by a record-breaking fall grant round for the East Grand Rapids Schools Foundation.
Twenty-eight grants totaling more than $230,000 were awarded by the Foundation in late October.
“That’s the most we’ve ever done in one grants cycle,” said Jay Forstner, the foundation’s director of communications. “It’s pretty amazing.”
Forstner wrote in a statement to donors: “Funded grants include new technology, STEAM resources, support for the marching band and robotics teams, continued funding for the elementary learning commons coordinator position, and underwriting plays and musicals at all our schools.”
He pointed out that the foundation for the first time contributed to the district’s preschool program, with a $2,500 grant for outdoor learning at Woodcliff Early Childhood Center.
With the $230,000 included, the foundation will have contributed a total of $650,000 to East Grand Rapids Public Schools this year.
A full list of awards from the fall grant cycle can be found on the foundation’s website. Watch the foundation hand out oversized checks in this video from late October.
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