Grants Corner

Dear CAL Members,

The Grant Season is finally winding down. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the Grant process, I want to give you some insight, to pique your interest in volunteering on this Committee in the future.

The Grant Committee (12 members and 3 alternates) has two meetings following the close of the application period. The first meeting is in early April where committee members receive their binders with the grant applications and instructions detailing the evaluation criteria. The second meeting is the DECISION meeting. What happens in between these meetings is at the heart of being a committee member. Read, read and reread the applications, score them according to the evaluation criteria, decide how much to award (or not), while adhering to the dollars available. This year the amount was $88,500. Thank you CAL members for all of your generosity and hard work!

The DECISION meeting is a miraculous process. It was my first year to chair the committee. I couldn’t fathom how it was all going to come together. I found myself wondering ‘how was I going to bring 12 people of differing ages, backgrounds, and political leanings to consensus'? There is something inherently wonderful in our CAL membership that allows each of us to respectfully make room for the others’ view point. That is the miracle.

The committee members made the presentations of the awards at the general meeting on May 17th. I hope you had the opportunity to be there. Forty-two grant awards were given to deserving organizations. I was impressed by the quality of the programs that CAL funded and the caliber of the community members who work selflessly to uplift and improve the lives of Bonner County residents. Let us not forget that our organization is integral to their work. Let’s make 2018 an even more successful year.

Bobbie Franklin
Grants Chair