June 2019 - Parks & Recreation - 31

Children at the Chanute Recreation Center participate in the My Plate nutrition
education program.

summer day camp participants
and to also expand the program
through partnerships with the
county health department, the local Head Start program and a local
faith-based supplemental food program. We reach almost 200 people
monthly with nutrition education
and information.
Our experience has also provided some great lessons for grant
writing. One of the first lessons
learned was from our school district's former grant writer, who
consistently told us: " Follow directions carefully. Use their language
and back it up with factual data. "
This turned out to be great advice.
Another great lesson is to reapply
if the grant repeats annually and if
the grant requirements are applicable to your project. Applying a second time almost always provides
valuable information. Researching
the grantee awards provides insight
into worthy projects. Sometimes,
there are elements and factors in
awarded projects that can be applied or adapted to your current
project, and a second application
is nearly always more well-written
than the first.
Communicating Your Vision
Grant opportunities can come from
local and state private foundations,
government organizations like the
Department of Health and Environment and USDA, and state and national organizations like NRPA. No
matter which grant you are applying
for, it is important to have a clear understanding of the overall vision so it
can be effectively communicated.

We know we want to be the
community health leader in our
little corner of the world, and we
know that focusing on active living,
healthy eating and tobacco cessation can get us there, so that's the
story I am always trying to articulate in our grant applications. However, what community health looks
like for us is totally unique. We are
always asking ourselves, " What
can we do that will benefit the most
people that no community within
100 miles is doing? What areas are
trending that we can implement? "
There will always be the grants
you apply for and don't get. For example, I didn't get an arts grant for
a pottery kiln, or one for binoculars
for outdoor education, or the Culture of Health prize from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Most recently, I didn't get one that
I probably shouldn't have applied
for, because we are still clarifying
our vision for our newest initiative
to promote activity and healthy

eating for seniors.
Grant writing is a process. It's
a journey that pays off in small
and big ways, but all of them are
important. Each grant leads to
another in an exciting snowball
effect that brings positive change.
I believe that when the right people work together for the right
reasons, good things happen.
That is true for Chanute, and we
are grateful for every grant dollar
that keeps our momentum moving forward.

Conference Session:
Want to learn the keys to effective grant writing? Sign up for the
" Unraveling the Grant Writing Puzzle: Connecting Dreams with Resources " pre-conference workshop
scheduled for 1 p.m. to 4:15 p.m.,
Monday, September 23 in the Baltimore, Maryland, Convention Center
- www.nrpa.org/conference/.
Julie Aikins is a Grant Writer for Chanute Recreation
Commission (jaikins.chanuterec@gmail.com). @ChanuteRec

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Parks & Recreation

June 2019 - Parks & Recreation

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