Search Through Grants for Community Service Projects in Kansas in the U.S.

Background

The Marion and Henry Bloch Family Foundation is focused on giving back to the people of greater Kansas City.

Through responsive and strategic philanthropy, the Foundation supports a variety of organizations working to improve the quality of life in local communities.

The Foundation is committed to assisting the city’s most vulnerable neighbors and striving to achieve lasting and meaningful change.

Learn more.

Grant Opportunities

The Marion and Henry Bloch Family Foundation’s grantmaking strategy emphasizes creating excellence and transformational change.

The Foundation’s unique approach combines proactive support that strengthens area nonprofits and responsive community assistance to achieve greater results, with a focus on underserved populations.

Community Impact

The Marion and Henry Bloch Family Foundation seeks to make strategic and responsive grants that help organizations achieve one or more of the following:

• Support nonprofit excellence and transformational change
• Meaningfully impact systemic issues
• Improve outcomes for low-income, underserved communities
• Expand organizational services

Since inception, the Foundation has invested over $175 million in greater Kansas City nonprofit organizations. Marion and Henry’s legacy of serving others continues to enhance our beloved city.What areas of focus (or cause areas) does the Foundation support? The Foundation’s areas of focus are:

• Education for Poor, Disadvantaged, and Underserved Youth
• Healthcare
• Jewish Community Organizations
• Post-Secondary Business and Entrepreneurship Education
• Social Services
• Visual and Performing Arts

What activities does the Foundation support?

The Foundation supports special programs, capacity building, and capital projects through strategic and responsive grants that help organizations achieve one or more of the following:

• support nonprofit excellence and transformational change;
• strengthen organizations;
• improve services for clients; and/or
• help underserved, low-income individuals.

What is the typical amount and duration of grant awards?

The Foundation does not have fixed minimum or maximum award limits, though grant awards typically fall in the range of $100,000 to $250,000. The Foundation makes both one-year and multi-year grant awards. 

What does this program do?

This program provides affordable funding to develop essential community facilities in rural areas. An essential community facility is defined as a facility that provides an essential service to the local community for the orderly development of the community in a primarily rural area, and does not include private, commercial or business undertakings.

What is an eligible area?

Rural areas including cities, villages, townships and towns including Federally Recognized Tribal Lands with no more than 20,000 residents according to the latest U.S. Census Data are eligible for this program.

How may funds be used?

Funds can be used to purchase, construct, and / or improve essential community facilities, purchase equipment and pay related project expenses.

Examples of essential community facilities include:

• Health care facilities such as hospitals, medical clinics, dental clinics, nursing homes or assisted living facilities.
• Public facilities such as town halls, courthouses, airport hangars or street improvements.
• Community support services such as child care centers, community centers, fairgrounds or transitional housing.
• Public safety services such as fire departments, police stations, prisons, police vehicles, fire trucks, public works vehicles or equipment.
• Educational services such as museums, libraries or private schools.
• Utility services such as telemedicine or distance learning equipment.
• Local food systems such as community gardens, food pantries, community kitchens, food banks, food hubs or greenhouses.

Grant Approval

Applicant must be eligible for grant assistance, which is provided on a graduated scale with smaller communities with the lowest median household income being eligible for projects with a higher proportion of grant funds. Grant assistance is limited to the following percentages of eligible project costs:

Maximum of 75 percent when the proposed project is:

• Located in a rural community having a population of 5,000 or fewer; and
• The median household income of the proposed service area is below the higher of the poverty line or 60 percent of the State nonmetropolitan median household income.

Maximum of 55 percent when the proposed project is:

• Located in a rural community having a population of 12,000 or fewer; and
• The median household income of the proposed service area is below the higher of the poverty line or 70 percent of the State nonmetropolitan median household income.

Maximum of 35 percent when the proposed project is:

• Located in a rural community having a population of 20,000 or fewer; and
• The median household income of the proposed service area is below the higher of the poverty line or 80 percent of the State nonmetropolitan median household income.

Maximum of 15 percent when the proposed project is:

• Located in a rural community having a population of 20,000 or fewer; and
• The median household income of the proposed service area is below the higher of the poverty line or 90 percent of the State nonmetropolitan median household income. The proposed project must meet both percentage criteria. Grants are further limited.

Funding Priorities

We focus our grantmaking in a way that honors our founders’ intent and operates in alignment with our mission, vision, and values – to center our work on ensuring all people experience what is possible.

We understand that improving life for all requires an interconnected approach. Therefore, through our grantmaking we seek to increase economic opportunities of all, with an intentional focus on communities of color, those not earning a livable wage, and families experiencing poverty. Kansas City’s community needs will guide us as we work together to create stronger partnerships with communities, nonprofit partners, and foundation colleagues, in order to increase opportunities for all to succeed.

We believe that as we expand our reach and increase our impact through new, strengthened, and reimagined partnerships within our three impact areas, we will help build a community where an improved quality of life is equitable and enjoyable by all.

What we fund and the impact we seek

To achieve our vision of enabling all people in our community to experience what is possible; to achieve their greatest potential, and to create a bigger impact, our grantmaking will focus on three interconnected impact areas:

KC Spirit: Elevating Kansas City

• To ensure that greater Kansas City’s regional assets, cultural organizations, and sense of community make it a thriving and inclusive place to live.
• Make Kansas City stronger by embracing all in our stories & vision for the city through investments in regional assets, arts & culture, and community wide initiatives.

Prospering Communities: Increasing equity for all

• To support families through organizations and initiatives that take a holistic approach to reducing poverty and increasing equity and well-being.
• Communities prosper when there are equitable opportunities to access education, housing, employment, and health care. We prioritize investments that take systemic and comprehensive approaches to increasing opportunities for all to thrive in their neighborhoods of choice.
• Grantmaking focuses on economic inclusion – livable neighborhoods – healthcare – emergency and safety net services.

Growing Minds: Creating strong educational foundation for life

• We prioritize investments that improve outcomes and access to quality programming for children and their families in education.
• Grantmaking focuses on Pre-K, K-12, post-secondary, and wrap-around support services, in addition to out-of-classroom initiatives that address barriers to education and provide additional academic support.

ABOUT REACH

The REACH Healthcare Foundation is a charitable foundation dedicated to improving health coverage and access to quality, affordable health care for uninsured and medically underserved people. The foundation maintains a regional focus, with a six-county service area that encompasses Allen, Johnson and Wyandotte counties in Kansas, and Cass, Jackson and Lafayette counties in Missouri.

Historically, REACH has focused its community investments in areas including primary medical care, mental health, oral health, and health policy and advocacy. Our current funding priorities are outlined within a community investment framework, which describes the foundation’s three outcomes areas:

• Bridge the Coverage Divide,
• Close the Health Equity Gap 
• Strengthen the Safety Net

Each outcome area aligns with the foundation’s commitment to achieving equitable health outcomes throughout our six-county service area. These outcome areas, and the strategies within each, guide our work, partnerships and where we invest.

To maximize our resources, the foundation directs its grantmaking primarily toward strategies within three outcome areas. REACH staff is available to meet and discuss on an individual basis.

Collaborations

Collaborative efforts are eligible to apply provided the applicant organization meets the Foundation’s eligibility criteria and is exempt under Section 501(c)(3).

Bring touring artists to your state

The Regional Touring Program (RTP) provides support for projects by organizations showcasing the work of artists from elsewhere in the M-AAA region.

• Organizations that book an artist listed on a state touring roster may be awarded up to 50 percent of the artist’s fee.
• Organizations that book an artist that lives in the region, but is not listed on a touring roster, may be awarded up to 25 percent of the artist’s fee.
• Organizations located in rural communities may receive an additional 10 percent of the artist’s fee.

Funding

• This grant will disburse matching funds of up to $5,000.
• Organizations may submit a maximum of three (3) applications and receive awards for up to three (3) different projects in a single fiscal year (July 1–June 30). Each applicant is eligible for an aggregate amount of $15,000 in a single fiscal year; and
• Similarly, an artist, ensemble, or scholar/educator can be the recipient of an aggregate of $15,000 through successful RTP grant applications submitted to M-AAA in a single fiscal year.

The Menorah Heritage Foundation is guided by the following principles in awarding grants:

• Perpetuate the Jewish Community
• Anticipate and adapt to changing needs
• Invest in transformational change
• Address critical/severe needs
• Support meaningful programs that benefit the Greater Kansas City Community

The Menorah Heritage Foundation seeks to support organizations who:

• Maintain a history of compassion and excellence
• Address the needs and represent the interests and viewpoints of their clients
• Possess the leadership, management, efficiencies and resources necessary to achieve the organizational objectives
• Collaborate with other providers whenever feasible and appropriate
• Establish financial stability and present a sense of awareness regarding the details of operations

Healthy For Life Cycle

Our Healthy for Life Cycle supports strategies that proactively improve health and wellness by fostering transformational change in individual and community behaviors, with a particular focus on disparities in under resourced communities.  The ideal grant in this category would address at least one identified social determinant of health and holistically impact mind, body and spirit. Successful grant applications include programs or projects which remove barriers to self-actualization and often reflect different types of social entrepreneurship.

In this cycle, we provide seed money to early-stage and/or innovative strategies to develop impact and supporting data necessary to draw other philanthropic and/or governmental resources as the strategies mature.  Healthy for Life grants serve as a limited term source of financial support for the creation and initial establishment of such proactive initiatives.  Organizations who are interested in applying in our Healthy for Life Cycle should contact our Program Officer, Kim Lewis, to schedule a preliminary conversation.

Mission

The Walter S. & Evan C. Jones Testamentary Trust was established in 1961 to provide educational and medical support to those residing in Lyon, Coffey and Osage counties in Kansas. Over time the trust has been allowed to take on additional charitable support such as human services and community development projects.

Walter and Evan were successful farmers and cattlemen, which was the source of wealth for this very generous gift bestowed upon these communities. The original trust was established to help develop a cure for polio. In the early 1960s when a vaccine was licensed, it was at the judgment of the courts to administer the trust as it is today.

Program Type

Community Improvement & Capacity Building Education Health Human Services

The Dane G. Hansen Foundation initiated a grant opportunity in March 2015 with Greater Northwest Kansas Community Foundation as an avenue to financially help support charitable activities in Northwest Kansas. With this funding, county-wide funds have been established throughout Northwest Kansas, allocating grant funds to each to be used for projects benefiting the counties and/or communities within.

Grantmaking Criteria

Grants can address:

• Education: Enhances the learning environment and expands opportunities for students. Provides increased self-reliance on personal life skills and workforce capability.
• Health Care: Ensures access to quality health care services and promotes healthy life practices.
• Community Social Services & Security: Enhance access to social services needed for individuals of special needs and supports systems to provide community disaster relief and general community emergencies.
• Conservation & Environment: Support efforts to improve and maintain high air and water quality, appreciation for our natural environment and enhances economic and social benefits of outdoor resources.
• Arts & Culture: Provide cultural and artistic opportunities to enhance the quality of life for local residents and to encourage tourism and the exchange of ideas.
• Community Beautification: Support efforts to improve and maintain public spaces to enhance community pride and encourage socialization among residents

Generally, there is no maximum or minimum on grant requests. Some community foundations have established a maximum request and should be noted on the grant description when you apply for the application online. It is the intent of the Hansen Foundation that the Grant Funds be used to award multiple grants in each county. Each county foundation, at its discretion may choose to establish maximum or minimum limitations for the respective county.

The Helen S Boylan Foundation

The mission of the Helen S. Boylan Foundation is to enhance the quality of life in our communities of Carthage, Missouri, the Greater Kansas City Area, and Lindale, Texas. We actively distribute quarterly grants to local non-profit organizations serving arts & education, women & children, health & wellness and the beautification of our communities.

Grant Guidelines

The Helen S. Boylan Foundation is a private family foundation established in 1982 to continue the family tradition of commitment to enhancing the quality of life of the community through grants to qualified charitable organizations. In carrying out its mission, the Foundation considers a wide range of proposals within the following areas: arts, education, health, human services, environment, and public interest.

Established in 2012 by the Wichita Wagonmasters, the Good Life Grants are committed to benefiting the quality of life for people in the Wichita area. The fund serves a wide range of projects enabling more people to enjoy the good life and to promote the idea Wichita is a great place to live, work and play.

Wichita Wagonmasters was formed by a group of civic-minded business executives with a single purpose: To promote and sell the good life in Wichita. The civic and social activities of the founders, and now of the total membership, are as wide and varied as the personalities of the members themselves.

What we fund

• Programs serving Wichita, Kansas
• Programs that avoid duplication of existing services
• Programs that collaborate with or facilitate collaboration among nonprofit organizations
• Programs that suggest creative and practical approaches to community problems
• Organizations with fiscal soundness
• Organizations that leverage other funding sources when available
• Programs that exhibit measurable results
• Organizations that demonstrate present and future sustainability
• Programs that address prevention as well as remediation
• Capital equipment, improvements and construction

Guidelines

Grants from National Trust Preservation Funds (NTPF) are intended to encourage preservation at the local level by supporting on-going preservation work and by providing seed money for preservation projects. These grants help stimulate public discussion, enable local groups to gain the technical expertise needed for preservation projects, introduce the public to preservation concepts and techniques, and encourage financial participation by the private sector. A small grant at the right time can go a long way and is often the catalyst that inspires a community to take action on a preservation project. Grants generally start at $2,500 and range up to $5,000.

Eligible Activities

National Trust Preservation Fund grants are awarded for planning activities and education efforts focused on preservation. Grant funds can be used to launch new initiatives or to provide additional support to on-going efforts.

Planning: Supporting existing staff (nonprofit applicants only) or obtaining professional expertise in areas such as architecture, archaeology, engineering, preservation planning, land-use planning, and law. Eligible planning activities include, but are not limited to:

• Hiring a preservation architect or landscape architect, or funding existing staff with expertise in these areas, to produce a historic structure report or historic landscape master plan.
• Hiring a preservation planner, or funding existing staff with expertise in this area, to produce design guidelines for a historic district.
• Hiring a real estate development consultant, or funding existing staff with expertise in this area, to produce an economic feasibility study for the reuse of a threatened structure.
• Sponsoring a community forum to develop a shared vision for the future of a historic neighborhood.
• Organizational capacity building activities such as hiring fundraising consultants, conducting board training, etc.

Education and Outreach: Support for preservation education activities aimed at the public. The National Trust is particularly interested in programs aimed at reaching new audiences. Funding will be provided to projects that employ innovative techniques and formats aimed at introducing new audiences to the preservation movement, whether that be through education programming or conference sessions.

The Dane G. Hansen Foundation, Logan, KS, is partnering with the Community Foundation to facilitate grants to improve the quality of life for communities in North Central Kansas.

Grants will be awarded to projects or programs that address:

• Education: Enhances the learning environment and expands opportunities for students. Provides increased self-reliance on personal life skills and workforce capability.
• Health Care: Ensures access to quality health services and promotes healthy life practices.
• Community Social Services & Security: Enhance access to social services needed for individuals of special needs and supports systems to provide community disaster relief and general community emergencies.
• Conservation & Environment: Support efforts to improve and maintain high air and water quality, appreciation for our natural environment and enhances economic and social benefits of outdoor resources.
• Arts & Culture: Provide cultural and artistic opportunities to enhance the quality of life for local residents and to encourage tourism and the exchange of ideas.
• Community Beautification: Support efforts to improve and maintain public spaces to enhance community pride and encourage socialization among residents.

What does this program do?

This program is designed to provide technical assistance and training for small rural businesses. Small means that the business has fewer than 50 new workers and less than $1 million in gross revenue.

What is an eligible area?

Rural Business Development Grant money must be used for projects that benefit rural areas or towns outside the urbanized periphery of any city with a population of 50,000 or more. Check eligible areas. 

What kind of funding is available?

There is no maximum grant amount; however, smaller requests are given higher priority. There is no cost sharing requirement. There are two types of RBDG projects, Opportunity grants and Enterprise grants.

• Opportunity type grants are limited to up to 10 percent of the total Rural Business Development Grant annual funding.
• Enterprise type grants must be used on projects to benefit small and emerging businesses in rural areas as specified in the grant application.

How may Enterprise type funds be used?

Enterprise grants must be used on projects to benefit small and emerging businesses in rural areas as specified in the grant application. Uses may include:

• Training and technical assistance, such as project planning, business counseling and training, market research, feasibility studies, professional or/technical reports, or producer service improvements.
• Acquisition or development of land, easements, or rights of way; construction, conversion, renovation of buildings; plants, machinery, equipment, access for streets and roads; parking areas and utilities.
• Pollution control and abatement.
• The capitalization of revolving loan funds, including funds that will make loans for start-ups and working capital.
• Rural distance learning for job training and advancement for adult students.
• Rural transportation improvement.
• Community economic development.
• Technology-based economic development.
• Feasibility studies and business plans.
• Leadership and entrepreneur training.
• Rural business incubators.
• Long-term business strategic planning.

How may Opportunity type funds be used?

• Community economic development.
• Technology-based economic development.
• Feasibility studies and business plans.
• Leadership and entrepreneur training.
• Rural business incubators.

The Lattner Family Foundation, founded in 2006 is headquartered in Delray Beach, Florida, and is a family foundation with a successful history of charitable giving. We encourage board members to be actively involved in their communities and in the work for the Foundation. We also encourage family unity and mutual respect, while serving to educate board members in philanthropy, service, and stewardship.

Mission

We wish to make a significant difference by supporting creative and innovative programs that encourage hope and personal responsibility in our chosen areas of giving. We will look for projects which advance solutions and inspire others to contribute.

Through our innovative and creative programs, we seek to encourage hope, inspire others to contribute, and support personal responsibility in our chosen areas of giving. Our primary geographical areas for grants are Palm Beach County, Florida; Kansas, Rhode Island, and Georgia. These areas relate to where the Trustees reside.

Areas of Giving:

• Arts & Humanities,
• Education,
• Environment,
• Health & Social Services,
• and Christian organizations that provide such services.

Association for Women Geoscientists Osage Chapter

Recipients of the service scholarships are AWG Osage chapter members who exemplify AWG's mission to encourage, exchange, and enhance by participating in outreach events aimed at educating and promoting women in geosciences. This project provides funding for female or make undergraduate and graduate students to cover academic expenses.

The goal of this scholarship is to encourage and support students who are interested in the AWG mission of increasing participation of underrepresented groups in the geosciences through service to the community. We invite applications from geoscience students for merit-based scholarships of $500 to be used for research, tuition, or books. Scholarships are made possible by AWG Osage and AWG Foundation. This scholarship is funded in honor of Sean S. Thomson of Lawrence, Kansas for his invaluable support of the Osage Chapter.

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Committed to your community.

The Patterson Family Foundation, based in Kansas City, Missouri, is a family-led foundation that extends the legacy of Neal and Jeanne Patterson. The Foundation’s mission, “Working together to help rural communities thrive,” is carried forward through strategic grantmaking and other collaborative initiatives that serve rural counties across Kansas and western Missouri.

Our Mission

Working together to help rural communities thrive.

Strategies for Thriving Rural Communities

At the Patterson Family Foundation, we believe that thriving rural communities aren’t just about the numbers—they’re about the people who choose to live there. A strong and engaged community is built on essentials like access to good jobs, quality healthcare, educational opportunities, and a sense of belonging. But keeping rural communities strong doesn’t happen on its own—it takes all of us working together. That’s why we focus on working with local leaders, businesses, and organizations to invest in the areas that matter most, ensuring that rural places don’t just get by but thrive for generations to come.

Specialty Care Access

Funding to bring specialty medical services closer to rural communities. Specialty care may include, but is not limited to, maternal care, oncology, chronic conditions, dental, and mental/behavioral health.

Elm Acres Grants Fund Projects Serving At-Risk Youth

The purpose of the Elm Acres Foundation, Inc. is to “provide support for at-risk youth in the Southeast Kansas community (Crawford, Cherokee, and Labette counties), including supporting any entities that provide services for at-risk youth.”

This competitive grant opportunity is made possible through the Community Foundation, which has been committed to providing support to area organizations since its establishment in 2001. Currently, CFSEK provides six competitive grant opportunities annually.

The Elm Acres Foundation’s Enduring Legacy of Support

“The Community Foundation is proud to help carry on the legacy of Elm Acres here in Southeast Kansas,” said Devin Gorman, CFSEK Executive Director. “We have so many amazing nonprofits in our region that provide vital support to at-risk youth, and we know these grants help them advance their missions and deliver services where they are most needed.”

The Elm Acres Foundation began its grantmaking through CFSEK in 2017 and has awarded over $140,000 to 46 nonprofit organizations in Cherokee, Crawford, and Labette counties. In 2023, the Foundation granted $23,413 to 12 organizations to support projects for at-risk youth.

Knights of Columbus Endowment Fund Grant Basics

The Knights of Columbus was founded by Father Michael J. McGivney in 1882 on principles of charity, unity, and fraternity with the intent to bring financial aid and assistance to the sick, disabled, and needy and their families. For decades, the Pittsburg Council of the Knights of Columbus carried out that mission by operating the Knights of Columbus Tower, providing low-income housing and other forms of assistance for local residents. After that building was sold in 2021, council members established an endowment with the Community Foundation of Southeast Kansas.

The Knights of Columbus Endowment Fund continues the council’s mission through an annual grant cycle. Grants are available for programs and projects that accomplish any of the following for the elderly, handicapped, and low-income families and individuals of Pittsburg, Kansas, and the surrounding area:

• Provide housing-, rent-, and utility-needs assistance;
• Provide health and human services to meet their educational, social, physical, spiritual, and psychological needs;
• Promote their health, security, happiness, and usefulness; or
• Improve community services for them.

About Us

The SkillBuilders Fund was created in 1983 by the late Marjorie Powell Allen, a civic leader and philanthropist, who championed women’s causes and education, as well as many other community-building activities.

The SkillBuilders Fund is committed to preparing women and girls for a future that honors their individual potential. Our goal is to support organizations that are aware of the barriers that keep women and girls from achieving their full potential and design programs that will systematically improve women and girls’ lives.

Funding Priorities

This private foundation is especially interested in innovative means to help women and girls gain self-sufficiency, build their capacity to function in our society, and become responsible citizens. SkillBuilders Fund funds projects that exclusively serve women and girls in the Kansas City region. The Fund favors projects that provide educational opportunities, build entrepreneurial skills, and cultivate and foster women and girls’ leadership. Proposals from new as well as traditional organizations will be considered.

Funding

Grants will typically range from $20,000 – $50,000 and may on rare occasion exceed $50,000. Multi-year grants will not be considered.

The Gould Charitable Foundation  is a philanthropic trust created as a memorial to the late Robert L. Gould.

About Us

Our mission is to assist organizations in improving the communities where Mr. Gould lived and worked--the greater metropolitan areas of Boston and Kansas City--by making grants to fund projects at 501(c)(3) charitable organizations whose vision and goals are aligned with our areas of interest.

Gould Charitable Foundation Grant

We are currently most interested in funding programs in the following areas (in alphabetic order):

• Elder Services
• Environmental Stewardship
• Health Care
• Preservation of Personal Rights
• Training for the Disadvantaged
• Welfare and Education of Children
• Women's Issues

You are encouraged to visit our FAQ page for information about the characteristics of projects we are more likely to fund and for suggestions for submitting a well-received application.

We have particular interest in funding innovative projects rather than ongoing maintenance or capital campaigns, with priority given to moderately-sized projects for which the foundation's contribution can comprise a significant portion of the project's budget. We also give priority to projects that have high leveraging potential in terms of expansion and/or replication, and projects that will provide ongoing value past the grant year.

CHS Inc

CHS (fomerly is a leading global agribusiness owned by farmers, ranchers and cooperatives across the United States. Diversified in energy, agronomy, grains and foods, CHS is committed to creating connections to empower agriculture, helping its farmer-owners, customers and other stakeholders grow their businesses through its domestic and global operations. CHS supplies energy, crop nutrients, seed, crop protection products, grain marketing services, production and agricultural services, animal nutrition products, foods and food ingredients, and risk management services. The company operates petroleum refineries and pipelines and manufactures, markets and distributes Cenex® brand refined fuels, lubricants, propane and renewable energy products. 

CHS invests in programs that strengthen hometown communities and develop future generations of ag leaders through CHS community giving and the CHS Foundation. These initiatives support CHS sustainability efforts and long-term focus on people and rural communities

CHS community giving serves cooperative communities through support of cooperative matching grants, Twin Cities projects, volunteerism and industry support.

CHS Foundation

The CHS Foundation builds ag career pathways and educates rural youth through support of ag safety.

Teacher Grants

The CHS Foundation will award up to $50,000 to help teachers to implement a project at their school that will engage students in experiential agricultural education. We know teachers have big ideas we want to help bring those to life for students in rural communities.

Mission

We make the healing presence of God known in our world by improving the health of the people we serve, especially those who are vulnerable, while we advance social justice for all.

Vision

A healthier future for all — inspired by faith, driven by innovation, and powered by our humanity.

Values

Collaboration, compassion, excellence, inclusion, integrity.

CommonSpirit Health Equity & Advancement Fund

The CommonSpirit Health Equity & Advancement Fund, soon to be the CommonSpirit Mountain Region Community Health Improvement Grant, was launched in 2021 in support of CommonSpirit’s commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) across our vibrant communities in Colorado, Kansas, and Utah. Our commitment to social justice lies in CommonSpirit’s Core Values, and advances our Mission to make the healing presence of God known in our world by improving the health of the people we serve, especially those who are vulnerable, while we advance social justice for all.

Applicants should ensure their proposed work/project:

• Serves a specific diverse, underrepresented, or underserved community (either based on geography or lived experience).
• Addresses specific Social Determinants of Health (SDOH)
• Integrates members of communities being served (community participatory approach)
• Builds community capacity, with an emphasis on utilizing community health workers
• Identifies specific objectives that will be measured and reported.

What are the 2026 funding focus areas?

• Mental health/Substance Use
• Access to Care
• Food Security/Nutrition
• Proposals otherwise advancing social justice and health equity

Mission

Since 2001, we have been able to provide over $25 million to support organizations across the KC Metro, including more than $8 million since 2021. We prioritize organizations that align with our three pillars: Literacy and Education, Healthy and Active Communities, and Military and Veteran Support. 

Literacy and Education

• $1 Million given in scholarships to first generation and underrepresented students since 2012​
• 500+ students impacted through Royals Literacy League​ since 2023
• 9,000 students participated in Royals Scholastic Victory program in 2023
• Over 100 schools supported in 2023

Healthy and Active Communities

• The Kansas City Urban Youth Academy has welcomed over 60,000 youth and families since 2018
• Over 43,000 students participated in the Crown Schools Program since 2021​
• 1,000 youth participated in softball and baseball in 2023
• $176,000 provided in grants to improve baseball and softball fields throughout the Midwest in 2023 through Royalty Fields presented by Price Chopper

Military and Veterans

• Veteran and active-duty military members have been recognized at each home game with the Salute to Service seat presented by Miller Lite since 2017
• Completed military focused activations to support area veterans such as writing and delivering appreciation letters written by players, fans, alumni, and staff
• Provided support to organizations such as the KCVA, Veterans Community Project, American Patriot Foundation, Horses for Heroes, Wounded Warrior, and many more

Our Mission

To connect caring people with causes that build stronger communities within the Emporia area which includes Chase, Coffey, Greenwood, Lyon, Morris, Osage and Wabaunsee counties.

What We Do

The Emporia Community Foundation (ECF) connects the diverse citizens and communities of Lyon and its six contiguous counties through the charitable actions of a variety of funds established for the purpose of bettering the lives of individuals within its communities. 

There are several Types of Funds whereby donors may focus their interest. These funds are established by individuals, families, businesses, and other nonprofit organizations that have made unordinary commitments to the needs within the community. Their sole purpose is to make the "community" a better place for perpetuity.

ECF Grants

The Emporia Community Foundation makes grants for innovative and creative projects and programs that are responsive to changing community needs in the areas of health, social service, education, recreation, and cultural affairs.

Preserve Route 66 Grant Fund

The most enduring highway in our public consciousness, Route 66 represents a unique moment in history that continues to define the nation’s identity: the rise of the automobile and its implications of freedom, mobility, and a quintessential American story. Grants from this fund will help preserve and enhance historic places on or connected to Route 66 for future generations.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Preserve Route 66 Grant Fund provides financial support to public agencies, tribal governments or nonprofit organizations to preserve and interpret historic places along the Route 66 corridor. The National Trust has a special interest in illuminating the narratives of communities whose places and stories have been historically underrepresented, which may include communities and neighborhoods along the Route 66 corridor associated with People of Color (including but not limited to indigenous peoples, Latinx, Black Americans and others), women, immigrants, LGBTQIA communities, veterans, and economically distressed communities.

Grants made from the Preserve Route 66 Fund will generally range from $2,500 to $10,000.

Healthy Habits for Life Grants

Healthy Habits for Life is a major grant-giving program of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas Foundation for schools. It is offered to help schools fund healthy initiatives for students in kindergarten through grade 12.

The Healthy Habits for Life program is offering grants to assist schools in promoting healthy lifestyle choices to their K-12 students. School nurses, physical education teachers, principals, health or family and consumer science teachers, or other administrators are encouraged to apply for funding that they may use during 2025.

The Foundation recognizes that schools have a unique opportunity to teach students about healthy habits through curriculum and programs that reach them where they spend so much of their time: school. As a young, captive audience, students can be more easily influenced to develop life-long healthy habits and behaviors. The Foundation hopes that curbing childhood obesity and improving mental health now will translate into healthy adults later, saving health care dollars for all Kansans.

The Foundation is seeking programs that will help Kansas youth:

• Reduce their cardiovascular risk,
• Increase their physical activity,
• Learn healthy eating habits, or
• Reinforce positive mental health

Program Ideas:

• Offer Folk Dance Fridays where students learn dances to American folk songs along with a history lesson.
• Assemble sports and physical activity bags for students to check out on the weekends.
• Build an all-school garden or greenhouse, providing both nutrition education along with fresh produce.
• Add a DISC golf course to school grounds, or create programs for children to walk or run throughout the duration of recess.
• Create programs like Project Produce or Let’s Have a Taste that give students the opportunity to taste and learn about healthy foods.
• Educate students on health aspects of the entire body system through the Body Venture exhibit.
• Obtain heart rate monitors, blood pressure sensors, oxygen gas sensors and other medical equipment to measure students’ pre- and post-activity rates.
• Incorporate Spike Ball into the physical education curriculum, or invest in weight lifting and circuit training equipment for physical education classes.
• Keep students engaged by allowing older students to produce videos that offer daily healthy messages.
• Create a weekly walking program and invite the community to participate, or begin a daily walking program just for students before or after school.
• Plan a Senior Health Fair and invite people from local senior centers to interact with students.
• Organize healthy living family nights so students, their siblings and parents can be active together.
• Provide healthy breakfast and snack options.
• Educate students on nutritional and healthy portion size meals through the MyPlate program.
• Offer oral, visual, hearing or health screenings to all students.

SEED Grants

Strategic Economic Expansion and Development

The purpose of SEED grants is to support the economic revitalization of Kansas communities under 5,000 population through investments in quality-of-life initiatives.

SEED grants are funded under the Technology-Enabled Fiduciary Financial Institutions Development and Expansion Act (KS Stat § 9-2324 [2021]), which was enacted in 2021 to promote and facilitate the development and growth of trust banks in Kansas; regulate fiduciary financial activities and custodial services and Kansas; and to locate trust bank office space in economic growth zones in rural Kansas.

The SEED grant program is administered by the Kansas Department of Commerce.

SEED Grant Awardees

Awardees are located in communities with a population of 5,000 or less, as required by (KS Stat 9-2324 [2021]). They are required to provide a minimum 10-percent match as well as complete the projects within 12 months. Projects must be focused on economic development and revitalization efforts through one of the following quality-of-life categories:

• Childcare and senior programming – projects that support or enhance these services, such as building improvements, educational materials, supplies, and equipment
• Community vibrancy – projects that refresh, re-energize, and unlock the attractiveness of rural communities, such as art installations, murals, and signage
• Food retail – projects that support access to food retail establishments, including development, renovation, and/or expansion
• Libraries – projects that support providing free and open access to a broad range of materials and services, including reading material, technology, furniture, and building improvements 

Funding

Max award amount – $25,000

Min award amount – $10,000

10% match requirement

Max of 3 projects per application