City Awards Grants to Local Groups

The City of Carlsbad awarded grants to five community organizations Tuesday as part of its annual Community Activity Grants program:

• Assistance League of San Dieguito, $4,000, to assist Operation School Bell and fund scholarships for sixth-graders to attend science camp.
• North Coastal Prevention Coalition, $3,900, for a proposed workshop focusing on substance abuse prevention. Workshop participants will create a public service announcement that will be disseminated through various media.
• Carlsbad Explorer Post 781 Inc., $10,000, to assist with the post’s law-enforcement internship program. Explorer Post 781 assists the City of Carlsbad Police and Fire departments. The funding will help pay for academy costs, uniforms, equipment, a group van and liability insurance.
• Carlsbad Sister City Ambassadors, $2,000, to benefit the Winter Classic program, which has been established to raise seed money to help the organization attain financial sustainability.
• Carlsbad Youth Athletics, also known as Carlsbad Pop Warner, $2,000, to help pay operational costs and fund athletic scholarship programs for football and cheerleading.

A Citizen Review Committee consisting of seven residents reviewed six grant applications and recommended those that best met the Community Activity Grant criteria. The panel consisted of four residents from throughout the city and one representative each from the city’s Senior Commission, Library Board of Trustees and Parks & Recreation Commission. The six applicants requested a total of $51,700, and the committee recommended funding $21,900 of the requests. The Council budgeted $28,000 for this year’s program. City staff recommended that the $6,100 that was not distributed remain in the fund and be available for future programs. 

Grants are given to organizations that have programs intended to enrich the lives of Carlsbad residents. Under city policies, grant recipients are eligible for a maximum of five years of funding. “The Community Activity Grant program is another way that the city enhances the overall quality of life for Carlsbad residents by giving people a strong sense of community and connectedness,” said Housing & Neighborhood Services Director Debbie Fountain. “These grants provide opportunities for people to help each other, which forms strong bonds that bind our neighborhoods together.”

–City of Carlsbad