Wednesday, June 6, 2012

KLC Grant Request


LEADERSHIP&FAITH
TRANSFORMING COMMUNITIES
Matching Grant Request

NAME OF CHURCH: Satanta United Methodist
NAME OF PERSON MAKING APPLICATION: Ryan Burrows
ADDRESS: PO BOX 74, Satanta, KS 67870
TELEPHONE: 620-649-3416 or 620-649-7167
EMAIL: rburrows@usd507.org
GRANT PAYABLE TO: 21st Time Satanta United Methodist Church
PROJECTED BUDGET: $3,010
ANTICIPATED DURATION OF PROJECT: August 4 through school year 2012-2013
AMOUNT REQUESTED FROM KANSAS LEADERSHIP CENTER: $1,500
ANTICIPATED SOURCE OF MATCHING GRANT MONEY: Satanta United Methodist

 Providing leadership for healthier Kansas communities
Our purpose for this project mirrors the larger purpose of our faith-in-action group: To free families from the cycle of poverty by supporting their children’s education; providing underprivileged families access to quality health care, dental care, and nutritious food; and seeking to aid in their personal development. For many years, our church has worked closely with United Methodist Mexican-American Ministries by providing families in need access to a food pantry and clothing closet as well as help with utility bills and rent. While these emergency services are a vital part of our ministry, we have come to realize that they neither move the families we serve out of the cycle of poverty or serve to create opportunities for a new generation of leaders to emerge. 

Thus, our newest project—an all-in-one back-to-school fair that brings together all our efforts in these three areas. The fair will be held at the Satanta United Methodist Church on Saturday, August 4, and will run from 4:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. In terms of education, it is our desire to provide the children who attend our fair an opportunity to sign up for free school supplies (for which we’ll use Kits for Kidz), to offer free books to students to begin building their own home libraries (for which we’ll use First Book), and to bring in local and regional and/or local representatives from groups like Russell Child Development and Parents as Teacher to give parents the tools they need to build successful futures for our children.
The fair will also focus on the field of health care. With the thought that we must focus on the mind and the body, our back-to-school fair will offer complimentary dental screenings, courtesy of a local dentist office; lessons (including a physical activity) on combating childhood obesity for the children who attend, courtesy of the Satanta District Hospital; information on the health and dental clinics operated by United Methodist Mexican-American Ministries; information on the services provided by the Haskell County Health Department; information on enrollment in HealthWave; access to and help with the NeedyMeds program; and a light, healthy meal courtesy of members of our church.

Additionally, it is our intention to foster the personal development of the students and families we serve by allowing them the basic human dignity of having good, clean clothing to begin the school year in as well as basic hygiene items such as shampoo, soap, and deodorant. For the fair, we will transform our clothes closet and food pantry into a mini “store” meant to serve the needs of those in attendance. A local photographer will also be on hand to take complimentary family photos, and we intend to offer high-value coupons for children’s haircuts at our local salon. A natural part of this process will include ensuring that those students who are participating in fall sports and activities have the shoes and other equipment needed to participate. This is something we have done in the past—up to and including purchasing a baritone for a student in band—and we hope to be able to continue to provide these avenues to success. 

Finally, because we believe in the transformative power of Christ, we will invite the Gideons to be present to distribute New Testaments in both Spanish and English, and we will have representatives from our church’s active Sunday school and youth programs on hand to encourage the participation of all our community’s children in these programs. We will seek, beginning in the fall, to actively participate in mentoring these young people, specifically those in grades 6-12, in a way that provides them with positive role models who are willing to help them find success. This event will serve as a kick-off for our school-year activities, which have included literacy fairs, coat drives, shoe drives, and many other activities. For the coming winter, we are also exploring launching a blanket drive through Church World Service. It our intention to get our church’s youth involved in these programs so that we begin to show them what a life of service looks like.

 Who will be served by this grant?
The short answer to the question is “The children of the Satanta community.”
The longer answer requires some background as to who these children are. Our school district’s “report card,” as reported by the Kansas State Department of Education (KSDE), was home to 365 students during the 2010-2011 school year—the latest year for which data has been reported. KSDE’s data shows that our student population is just over 52% Hispanic and that just under 68% of our students are classified as “economically disadvantaged.” During the 2010-2011 school year, our district was “on improvement” for failing to meet the requirements for adequate yearly progress (AYP) as mandated by No Child Left Behind. Test scores of students classified as English-Language Learners (ELLs) were of particular concern. The 2011-2012 school year saw significant improvement in these scores across grade levels, racial subgroups, and genders, and the district’s preliminary data reveals that we made AYP this year. Nevertheless, as our budgets have tightened and our number of ELLs has continued to climb at the elementary level, there is continued concern that our recent successes may not prove easy to repeat.
For this reason, this grant request is specifically targeted at the portion of our project that will provide school supplies to a minimum of 100 disadvantaged students who attend Satanta Elementary School in the USD 507 school district. The information on the following page reveals how we arrived at the working number of 100 when planning for this project:

Satanta Elementary School had 185 students in PreK-6 last year. Of those 185, 117 (63.2%) qualified for free lunches with an additional 6% qualifying for reduced lunches. This means, simply put, that 63% (roughly 117) of the students who attend Satanta Elementary are from households with incomes at or below 130% of the federal poverty level.
 
Projected Budget
School Supply Kits (www.kitsforkidz.org): $1,500 (100 at average cost of $14.75)
Books (www.firstbook.org): $400 (about 200 books)
Hygiene items: $300 (soap, shampoo, and deodorant for 100)
Haircut coupons: $500 (100 coupons valued at $5 each)
Photography: $60 (100 – 5 x 7 prints from Wal-Mart at .58 each)
Food: $250 (for 100 participants, plus volunteers)
Total projected budget: $3,010


Community Participants
Satanta United Methodist Church
United Methodist Mexican-American Ministries
Gideons International
Haskell County Health Department
Lark and Palmer Family Dentistry of Garden City
Parents as Teachers
Russell Child Development Center
Satanta District Hospital
Studio 113 photography
Vanity Salon

How many individuals will be served?
We hope to serve no fewer than 100 elementary students and their families.

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