Bridging the gap: Idaho Community Foundation funds educational innovation and needs

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) - The Idaho Community Foundation (ICF) granted more than $350,000 to educational programs throughout Idaho this summer to support preschool programs, school districts, libraries and more.

The grants – more than 30 in all – are part of its commitment to provide educational opportunities and bridge educational gaps across all Idaho communities.

Many programs across Idaho providing community-valued benefits to local students face funding shortages due to conditions outside their control, including the pandemic. Organizations like ICF can meet these needs with agility, making their funding models an important part of Idaho’s educational promise.

Funds like those administered by ICF and other charitable organizations have inherent flexibility, which educators say can be the first step toward new programs offering scholastic success.

“Without grant funding, we would not be able to do the extensive work with our community partners across the state of Idaho,” said Evelyn Johnson, CEO, Lee Pesky Learning Center. “Grants have been most important for supporting our early childhood educator training.”

Lee Pesky Learning Center received $19,800 to provide families and early childhood educators in Bannock and Fremont counties with Kindergarten Readiness Kits, accompanying digital materials and access to asynchronous online training modules.

In 2020, more than $4.5 million in ICF grants went to support education, which is one of ICF’s philanthropic focuses.

Grants from ICF’s Idaho Future Fund and Forever Idaho grant cycles go through a competitive request process and decisions are made by ICF’s Regional Councils –residents of the communities benefiting from the grants – and are approved by the ICF Board of Directors.

The Regional Council model ensures that local voices play a crucial role in determining the individual needs of communities and sharing that information with ICF.

“All Idaho communities care about and are supportive of education,” said Karen Bilowith, ICF President and CEO. “Our model ensures that local voices determine how the grants are distributed.”

List of 2021 grants (East Idaho)

Idaho Future Fund

ABC - Above and Beyond the Classroom (Teton County) – $10,000 to allow ABC to initiate an afterschool program at Victor Elementary School for at-risk children. Due to lack of transportation, many Victor families who need afterschool care lack the ability to utilize ABC’s Driggs center.

American Falls School District #381 (Power County) – $18,000 to provide 30 preschool students a $600 scholarship towards the cost of attending a high-quality preschool.

Lee Pesky Learning Center (Bannock and Fremont counties) – $19,800 to provide families and early childhood educators in Bannock and Fremont counties with Kindergarten Readiness Kits, accompanying digital materials and access to asynchronous online training modules.

South Fremont Junior High (Fremont County) – $15,000 to update the school’s library collection and add digital content to the library.

Sugar-Salem School District #322 (Madison County) – $17,550 to purchase books for the library for sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders at the district’s new Sugar-Salem Junior High.

United Way of Southeastern Idaho (Bannock and Power counties) – $16,500 to expand access to high-quality early learning seats for low to moderate income (ALICE) children in Power and Bannock counties.