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The Wellmark Foundation awards nearly $500,000 in Small MATCH grants

November 21, 2019

Des Moines, IA — The Wellmark Foundation has provided 19 Iowa organizations with Small Matching Assets to Community Health (MATCH) grants. These grant recipients were notified in August and had 16-weeks to secure the required match in order to receive their funds from The Wellmark Foundation. All of these projects will help individuals, families and communities achieve better health through built environment initiatives that encourage physical activity and consumption of and access to healthy foods.

"The Wellmark Foundation is proud to award a cumulative total of $446,963.50 to these 19 grant recipients," said Becky Wampler Bland, The Wellmark Foundation executive director. "We are proud to support these organizations as they have demonstrated their projects will help to improve the well-being of the communities they serve well into the future."

The 19 Iowa organizations that were awarded grants include:

City of Afton, $25,000
Afton Safe Routes to Schools

City of Carroll, $25,000
Pickleball courts

City of Creston, $25,000
McKinley Park Trail Expansion

City of Decorah, $25,000
Park Improvements to Enhance Safety and Encourage Physical Activity

City of Eldora, $17,000
Memorial Park – A place to play and remember.

City of Mount Ayr, $9,963.50
Judge Lewis Park Trail

City of Shell Rock, $25,000
Shell Rock Aquatic Center

City of Spencer, $25,000
Pedestrian Crossings

Friends of the Terrain Therapy Garden, $25,000
VA Terrain Therapy Garden – Des Moines

Gibraltar Neighborhood Association, $25,000
Fairmount Park Trailhead – Council Bluffs

Hometown Pride Morning Sun, $25,000
Safe Sidewalks for our Students

Iowa Valley Resource Conservation and Development, $25,000
Enhancing Food Access

Linn County, $25,000
Linn County Food System Assessmen

Maquoketa School District FFA, $25,000
Agriculture Learning Center Greenhouse

Mount Pleasant Community School District, $25,000
Outdoor Pickleball

Nodaway Valley Community School District, $25,000
Elementary School Playground

Shelby County Wellness Alliance, $25,000
Free Fitness 4 All

St. Rose of Lima Catholic School, $25,000
Playground and Peace Garden

University of Iowa Center for Advancement, $25,000
University of Iowa Gardeners

Learn more about these projects. Since 2011, The Wellmark Foundation has provided more than $11 million in grant funding to communities across Iowa and South Dakota.