Call for Proposals!

by | Sep 28, 2016 | Uncategorized

We have over $12,000 in grants to award to schools…now we want to hear your ideas!

Some of you may remember our first ever endowment grant that we awarded last year at Honors Night to the Verona Area School District to replace all the gymnastics equipment they use for their elementary schools.  As you can see by the picture, it’s now being used to help kids flip, roll, and balance their way to health in our community!
We were so energized and excited about this grant opportunity, that we’re doing more this year.  In addition to our Endowment Fund grant, we have revised our Adopted Schools Program to shift more funding towards large-scale projects in our schools.  The Adopted Schools program, which took place in 2012-2015, awarded 5% of our annual race entry revenue to five schools in Dane County with the highest percentage of kids qualifying for free or reduced lunch.  The rationale behind this was that each year, we could help boost health and fitness education in schools where it was needed most.  We also hoped that by providing this one time incentive, it would increase future participation by demonstrating what was possible by participating in our events.

While this strategy worked about 60% of the time, we thought there would be a better way to make an impact AND build relationships with schools.  Moreover, we wanted to find out what types of projects were on our schools’ wish lists, but just needed a one-time infusion of funds to help make dreams come true.

So, this year, we’re offering TWO types of grants, and we encourage any and all schools to apply by October 24th at 5pm:

  • Endowment Fund grant: $1,000 or less (one or two recipients possible)
  • School Funds grant: $1,000-$5,000 (about three recipients possible)

In both cases, the following guidelines apply:

  1. Projects should fund school-based health/wellness, fitness, or nutrition-focused efforts.
  2. This grant is intended for projects benefiting children between the ages of 3-14.
  3. Funds must be used for a project that will be completed within the academic year in which it is awarded (before September 1, 2017).
  4. Please save the date for our Grant Reception on Thursday, November 10th from 5:30-8:30pm.

To learn more, check out the Grants page of our website, and please apply soon!  We can’t wait to help your school and students get moving and learn about healthy lifestyles.