(Public News Service) – Six projects were selected in Idaho for a grant program designed to make communities more livable.
AARP has announced the recipients of its annual Community Challenge program. The grants coming to Idaho total more than $70,000.
Marie Bonaminio, a volunteer for AARP Idaho, said the grants are especially useful for small communities.
“They don’t have the means sometimes for some of these projects,” Bonaminio observed. “We’ve gone back sometimes and seen some of these projects in action, and it’s changed the whole community’s life just because of maybe one small project that we were part of.”
The grant program distributed $3.6 million to more than 300 organizations nationwide. AARP selects projects that can be developed quickly. They must be completed by Nov. 30.
Bomaminio noted a new category was designed for a garden project. The Winchester Community Library in North Idaho will receive $2,500 to build a garden.
“They were just looking to put together a garden in their library,” Bomaminio recounted. “Didn’t need a lot of money but just enough to get it going and build boxes for the people who take these different garden items home and pay it forward.”
Other selected projects include Adapted Builds in Boise to support caregivers, a pickleball court in Malad City and ADA compliant benches in the city of Orofino.