Golden Belt Community Foundation announces that over $83,100 was recently awarded through its Spring Community Building Grant to benefit communities in the Golden Belt area.

The Golden Belt Spring Community Building Grant promotes community service and community projects and programs that focus on the enhancement of Barton, Pawnee, Rush, and Stafford Counties. This grant is open to a variety of issues and target populations. However, successful applications are those that will help fulfill the grant’s mission to enhance the quality of life, today and in the future, building these communities for our future generations. The 26 projects funded are:

$3,028 Barton County Core Community

Barton County Core Community received a grant to support its weekly program that helps individuals and families move out of generational poverty toward lasting stability. The program builds skills in 11 key areas, including financial, emotional, mental, spiritual, and physical wellbeing, along with language and social capital, giving participants the tools they need to build a more secure future.

$5,000 Cairn Health, Inc.

Cairn Health is using its grant to provide medication and medical supplies to uninsured and underinsured residents of Barton and Stafford Counties. The program serves some of the area’s most vulnerable populations, including seniors, individuals experiencing homelessness, people living with mental illness, low-income families, and those managing diabetes, many of whom are referred through Heart of Kansas and the Barton County Health Department.

$5,000 City of Burdett

The City of Burdett is using its grant to help the Burdett Volunteer Fire Department replace damaged bunker gear and begin upgrading its communication equipment. New radios will allow firefighters to stay connected with each other, dispatch, and the sheriff’s office while responding to calls, helping keep both volunteers and the community safer.

$2,000 City of Larned

The City of Larned is purchasing a utility golf cart for its community garden, which operates on a shared help-and-take model that gives residents of all ages access to fresh, locally grown food. As participation has grown, especially among older adult gardeners, moving harvested produce to the market stand had become difficult; the golf cart will ease that burden and keep the garden running smoothly.

$2,661 City of Otis

The City of Otis is enhancing its community park, one of the town’s main gathering spots, with a new permanent basketball goal, upgraded electrical infrastructure, and securely anchored playground equipment that was previously donated to the park. The improvements will make the park safer and more inviting for Otis families for years to come.

$2,500 Cornerstone Armory Inc

Cornerstone Armory received a grant to become certified to offer the Work Life Job Readiness Program in Barton and Pawnee Counties. The program will give underemployed and unemployed adults and youth the skills and mindset needed to find and keep steady work, with particular attention to participants facing barriers like generational poverty, limited education, past criminal history, or unstable housing.

$2,500 Ellinwood Hospital Foundation

Ellinwood Hospital & Clinic is upgrading its clinical computer systems to support secure, efficient care and expanded telehealth services for the Golden Belt region. The improvements will help protect patient data, reduce the risk of cyberattacks and care delays, and make it easier for rural residents to get timely, high-quality care close to home.

$5,940 Great Bend High School

A special education classroom at Great Bend High School is launching a student-run microenterprise for students who are blind, low-vision, or living with autism or cerebral palsy. As students move into the school’s 18-21 transition program, they’ll gain hands-on, real-world job experience making and delivering coffee, cupcakes, and Friday popcorn to teachers, alongside an expanded work rotation using commercial paper shredders with safety guards.

$4,000 Great Bend Public Library

The Great Bend Public Library is creating the Luna Memorial StoryWalk, an outdoor reading trail in Vets Park that displays pages from rotating children’s picture books along a walking path. The project gives families a fun way to build literacy skills together while honoring Luna’s legacy of championing reading in the community.

$2,524.33 Jordaan Memorial Library

Jordaan Memorial Library’s 2026 summer reading program, themed “Summer Reading Luau,” runs from June 1 through July 10 and uses challenges, reading logs, special guest entertainers, and prizes to help kids build and maintain a love of reading. This year the library is also adding new programs and challenges so adults in the community can join in the fun.

$5,618 KSRE 21 Central

KSRE 21 Central is installing 16 permanent StoryWalk frames in Stafford City Park, near the local school, displaying children’s books page by page along the walking path. The project blends literacy, physical activity, and time outdoors, giving families a way to support kids’ reading skills and mental health together.

$2,500 LaCrosse Fire District #4

LaCrosse Fire District #4 is completing the second phase of a concrete repair project at its fire station, replacing sections of the apron and driveway that have broken apart over time. The area is used regularly for training with the local sheriff’s office and EMS, and the repairs will help keep volunteers and visitors safe.

$1,000 Macksville City Library

Macksville City Library is launching a One Book Summer Reading challenge to boost participation among young adults in sixth through twelfth grade. Working with junior high and high school teachers to recommend titles and promote the program, the library will offer prize opportunities to students who read at least one book over the summer, with more chances to win for those who read further.

$3,780 Nora E. Larabee Memorial Library

The Nora E. Larabee Memorial Library is transforming the underused backyard of its historic building into a welcoming outdoor reading and nature space for all ages. The Library Garden Retreat project will add trees, native pollinator-friendly plants, a sturdy bench, and architectural screens, giving the community a peaceful new spot to read and relax outdoors.

$2,500 Rush County EMS

Rush County EMS is adding a sidewalk to its main parking area, currently dirt and grass, and reconnecting it to existing sidewalk and curb sections that need to be redone. The project also includes repaving a cracked driveway leading out of the ambulance bay, along with new LED lighting and updated flooring in a small office space.

$2,500 Rush County Sheriff’s Office

The Rush County Sheriff’s Office is using its grant to improve crosswalks and signage throughout the community, making it easier for residents and youth to navigate local roadways safely. The project grew out of ongoing conversations about traffic safety and is expected to have a direct, meaningful impact on protecting the public.

$3,591 St. John’s Episcopal Church

St. John’s Episcopal Church is continuing its program to pack breakfast and lunch boxes for children at risk of hunger during school breaks, covering one week in spring, four weeks in summer, and two weeks in winter. After missing a couple of breaks last year due to limited resources, the church is using this grant to make sure food reaches kids during all seven weeks this year.

$2,500 Stafford County Core, sponsored by Youth Core Ministries

Stafford County Core is purchasing a tall storage shed with electricity and room for a refrigerator at its community garden. After a strong harvest last year left produce like green beans, lettuce, and spinach without proper storage before distribution, the new shed will cut down on waste and help keep food fresher for the families who rely on it.

$1,700 Stafford County Economic Development Inc.

Stafford County Economic Development is building countywide capacity through Lunch & Learns, entrepreneurship resources for schools and libraries, grant-writing training, and one-on-one coaching for nonprofits.

$5,561 Sunshine Community Gardens Inc.

Sunshine Community Gardens Inc. is launching the Cheryl L. Reinhardt Memorial Community Garden, preparing the site and installing the infrastructure needed for shared growing and learning spaces. The new garden will support food security, hands-on education, and connection among neighbors.

$2,500 The Father Murphy Foundation

The Father Murphy Foundation is creating a safe, family-friendly gathering space in Olmitz, a rural town of 90 residents where nearly a third are children. The Olmitz Park Project will add playground equipment and picnic tables, giving local families a place to gather and making the town a welcoming stop for travelers along K-4 highway.

$1,750 The Larned Garden Club, LTD

The Larned Garden Club is restoring its Memorial Rose Garden after several harsh years, and a lack of reliable upkeep left many roses in need of replacement. The grant will fund new roses and mulch, including repairs to garden areas damaged by flooding from a nearby city pool discharge last summer.

$2,000 The Pilot Club of Great Bend

The Pilot Club of Great Bend is hosting a workshop on sensory processing, autism, and related conditions like ADD, ADHD, and anxiety, which often occur alongside autism. The session will help parents and teachers better understand these conditions and gain practical tools to support the children in their lives.

$2,500 United Way of Central Kansas

United Way of Central Kansas is supporting Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, which mails a free, age-appropriate book each month to local children ages 0 to 5. The program currently serves more than 800 children in the area, helping build early literacy skills and get kids ready for kindergarten.

$3,000 Valley Kids Daycare

Valley Kids Daycare is running a structured summer program for 20 school-age children, combining academic enrichment in reading and math with hands-on activities and safe daily supervision to prevent summer learning loss. The program also creates three jobs for local educators, supporting both student outcomes and the area’s working families.

$5,000 Volunteers In Action of Central KS

Volunteers In Action of Central Kansas is funding its Blood Donor Care & Hospitality Fund, which provides snacks, light meals, and recovery supplies at American Red Cross blood drives. The support helps donors recover safely and comfortably after giving blood, encouraging repeat donations and strengthening the local blood supply.

Golden Belt Community Foundation

At over $40 million in total assets and more than 180 funds under management, the Golden Belt Community Foundation has been connecting people who care to causes that matter since 1996. GBCF serves the counties of Barton, Pawnee, Rush, and Stafford. For more information, call 620-792-3000 or visit their website at www.goldenbeltcf.org.