Dozens of groups grateful for Kids Fund grants
Board members from The Capital Times Kids Fund received thanks from members of scores of groups who received grants within the past year to help them help kids in the Dane County community, but the thanks really should go to those who contribute to the fund.
Listening to the many speakers Thursday night at the Kids Fund annual meeting showed how the money that comes from people in the community through donations is stretched to serve numerous constituencies, all of which are trying to do something for children.
"Without these funds," said Tamarine Cornelius of Safe Harbor, "many of the people we serve would not have access to mental health."
Safe Harbor provides services to many children who are victims of abuse, and its funds come from many sources, with The Capital Times Kids Fund being one of them. Cornelius said the funds provide a chance for children who are victims to get mental health assessments to see what kind of treatment they may need.
Sometimes, it's not only children who benefit from the donations. The Rainbow Project has started a special program for families in which grandparents are caring for children, and the workers say it is sometimes difficult to tell who gets the most benefit.
The same is true for Will Green. He was on hand to thank the Kids Fund board for the grant he received to run an after-school basketball program for kids, several of whom were with him to share their appreciation. "It gives the kids a place to be somewhere safe," he said of his program, adding that "I am so happy and blessed to be working with kids."
Wheels for Winners is funded entirely by donations and has about 25 volunteers who repair used bicycles donated to the group to get them in working order. The bikes then go to kids who earn them by doing 15 hours of community service work, so one donation leads to another, explained leaders of the organization.
Two people whose organizations annually receive grants from the Kids Fund also received awards Thursday night. Timebank Inc. director Stephanie Rearick was the recipient of the annual Joyce Erdman Award.
Erdman was president of the Kids Fund for many years until her death in 1992 in a bicycle accident in Arizona. Along with her work for children, she was involved in many civic and community activities, including service on the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents. The award in her honor is annually given to a person who demonstrates outstanding service in working with young people.
Rearick's group has operations in Stoughton and Madison, and is about to start a new venture, the Time Dollar Store, on Allied Drive on Nov. 28. By doing an hour's worth of community service, residents of the southwest side neighborhood can earn one Timebank dollar, which can then be used to purchase items at the store. Items in the store are priced so that one hour of work earns much more than a greenback would buy in the regular economy.
The store took two years to develop and will be housed for now in an apartment donated by the city.
Receiving the Steve Jones Award Thursday was Nathan Larson of Community Ground Works. Jones, who died in 2006, served on the Kids Fund board for a decade, and the award named after him honors an outstanding youth program.
Larson's group runs a Kids Gardening Program on part of the 31 acres of the Troy Gardens Project on Madison's north side. Larson said the program now has 700 kids participating and described the operation as "kind of a beautiful chaos."
Kids get to design and plant their own garden patch, and eat what it produces. Larson got big laughs from many of the 100 or so in attendance when he read a list of quotations from his young gardeners.
"Is this where the supermarket gets all its food?" one fifth-grader wondered.
"It tastes as good as unhealthy stuff," said another kid after sampling some garden produce.
2 total imagesview them here
Timebank Inc. director Stephanie Rearick was the recipient of the annual Joyce Erdman Award.
