FAIRMONT – Ten years removed from their first grant cycle in 2016 and over $6 million given to Martin County nonprofits, the Schmeeckle Foundation has once again opened its grant cycle.

The application is open to projects relating to early childhood care and education, services for people with disabilities and older adults and the arts from organizations with a 501c3 status. As for why these three areas, Schmeeckle Foundation Trustee Shelia Hohensee said they were areas vital to the foundation’s founder, Juanita Schmeeckle.

“She was an avid dancer, an artist,” she said. “That’s why it’s the arts. She had a passion for children, and she had a nephew who was disabled, and so those were the three areas of passion that she had. She was born and raised here in Martin County, and so she also dictated that she wanted all these funds to be used in her home area. Even though she didn’t live here her entire life (here), she wanted to bring it back to Martin County.”

And over the past 10 years, that has come to fruition through several projects, of which Hohensee touched on a few.

“We’ve supported the Apple Tree Dental Clinic development here in Fairmont,” she said. “We’ve supported the Opera House in the past, Boy Scouts, Pheasants Forever, some of their educational programs. We most recently started working with Kinship; they were a first-time grant recipient last year. They support youth in the area. The food shelf. Many, many organizations.”

When it comes to the attributes and characteristics in submitted applications, Hohensee said there are a few things they want to see.

“We’re looking for things that we love,” she said. “Innovation, that’s one thing. We have something new; we’re not just wanting to keep funding the same projects. We all really look forward to seeing what new ideas are out there. The other thing that we’re really looking for is things that collaborate with other organizations. We want these projects to take on a life of their own, and so we do believe that collaboration with other groups will help these projects live on.”

By starting the process now, Hohensee said they can get the funds out to recipient organizations before the year ends.

“They can start their next year with these funds if they have projects,” she said. “We know some of the things that people are presenting to us take quite a while to get off the ground. There’s a lot of leg work in being in a project that you want to develop, or you have new goals or ideas for, so we’d like to have the money dispersed and out to them by the beginning of the following year. Usually, our checks go out that last week in December, so that they can count down that they’ll have those funds in hand to start using.”

Generally, Hohensee said they receive around 15 applications and funds are awarded based on the applications they receive.

“We get a grant application in, and they submit to us their budget,” she said. “We review that budget. Another part of our grant is you need to have matching funds, so we’re looking for that collaboration with other grants, or those organizations to have gone out and done other fundraising to bring in buy-in from the community.”

When the deadline hits on July 15, the foundation’s trustees will take the next few months looking over applications, interviewing organizations and making final determinations before decisions are announced Nov. 16.

As their 10th grant cycle is underway, Hohensee said they are looking to continue seeing new, creative and innovative ideas to fund in Martin County.

“There are so many people in our community that have a passion for the groups that they support, whether they sit on boards or they donate their time to help organizations,” she said. “We are just really looking forward to seeing what creative ideas people have come up with, new programs or developments, or ways that the whole community can benefit from whatever projects they’re working on.”

To apply or get more information, visit schmeecklefoundation.org/. Questions can be sent to Shelia Hohensee at hockeymom305@gmail.com or by calling/texting 507-236-1152.