Rotary Club gives out $7,132 in grants

The majority of successful applicants of grants awarded by the Rotary Club of Minden through its foundation were local schools, although the Douglas County Public Library also earned a nod of approval for the largest grant of $2,000 for a language translator computer program.

A total of $7,132.31 in grant funding was disbursed in the regular Thursday meeting of the club at the COD Casino. Recipients attended the meeting and had the opportunity to share how the grant funding would be used with club members. The club’s grant program has as its mission providing support to nonprofits and community organizations who serve at-risk children.

Hollie Harvey, a teacher at Carson Valley Middle School, spoke enthusiastically about being able to “provide a comfortable place to learn,” for her students thanks to the $1,000 grant she received for alternate seating in several classrooms.

Another recipient, Noelle Menicucci, a teacher at Meneley Elementary, explained how her grant of $1,000 for additional supplies that aid in reading improvement would facilitate the classroom book club. “We can teach patterns to kids so they can both read and write,” she said.

Douglas County Library Director Tim DeGhelder showed a video of how the new language translator would give all library card holders access to a program that teaches multiple languages. This program would not only be available in the library on its computers, but also available online on the library website.

Out of the 12 applicants in the second round of grants, seven were approved.

The third and final round of grant funding, the spring round, will take place soon.

To obtain information about this process, please email Rotary Club of Minden at Rotarymindennv@gmail.com.