LiveWell grants awarded to local entities for healthy eating and active living

PRESS RELEASE
September 19, 2014

GARFIELD COUNTY, CO – LiveWell Garfield County has just awarded a total of $19,925 in funding for the fall cycle of mini grants administered in Garfield County for organizations that promote healthy eating and active living. The two largest grants will help with active transportation related projects.

Roaring Fork Transportation Authority (RFTA) will administer $5,000 in mini grant funds for its Regional Travel Patterns Study from Aspen to Parachute. The study will assess travel behavior in the region, and is aimed at assisting local government decision-making about transportation investments. This funding is for communities in Garfield County that could not contribute financially to the study project due to budgetary constraints. RFTA will also coordinate with LiveWell Garfield County to develop a list of prioritized bicycle and pedestrian projects in Garfield County through its Regional Bicycle and Pedestrian-Access to Transit Plan process.

The City of Rifle and the Rifle Creek Trail will utilize $5,000 of LiveWell Garfield County mini grant funding to construct a 400-foot trail section. It will connect the existing Rifle Creek Trail to Railroad Avenue near 9th Street in Rifle, to create a paved access to the Rifle Creek Trail in an area that lacks access from a street. The city’s overall goal is to develop a complete trail network to encourage bicycling and walking.

Grand River Health Nutritional Services received $3,500 in funding for greenhouse equipment to grow food year-round in order to continue to provide healthy food to patients, staff and Grand River Health’s Meals on Wheels of Western Garfield County program. Roaring Fork Outdoor Volunteers will employ a $3,500 mini grant for the Young Stewards Initiative, which engages youth and municipalities in outdoor trail projects. Students in the program attend Glenwood Springs High School, Glenwood Springs Middle School, Glenwood Springs Elementary School, Yampah Mountain High School, Rifle Middle School, Roaring Fork High School, Roaring Fork Valley Homeschool Network, Crystal River Elementary, Carbondale Community School, Carbondale Middle School, Ross Montessori School, Colorado Rocky Mountain School, and Waldorf School. It is a goal of the youth program to provide significant access to outdoor activities to minority and low income youth.

LIFT-UP’s Carbondale location is getting $2,025 for a refrigeration unit to store fresh produce donations from the LiveWell Gleaning Program.

Garfield RE-2 School District’s $900 mini grant will fund cooking classes for its approximately 800 school district staff members, implemented by Grand River Health, with a focus on healthy and nutritional cooking on a budget.

Next year, LiveWell Garfield County will again have $40,000 to award to programs and projects related to healthy eating and active living. The next grant deadline is tentatively March 10, 2015.

For more information, please contact Dana Wood, LiveWell coordinator, at 970-625-5200, ext. 8121.