Viking Foundation provides grants to four Iowa nonprofits

The Viking Foundation of Lincoln announced the funding of 13 grants, including four in or near Des Moines, totaling $60,000 in support of nonprofit organizations in three states.

The following Des Moines-area grants totaling $17,000 were funded:

· $1,000 to Holy Family School—for library books for this inner-city school with many students from low-income, non-English-speaking families.

· $5,000 to Meals from the Heartland—to help fund a youth-participation program to help fight hunger.

· $1,000 to Richard’s Marsh near Jewell, Iowa—for improvements.

· $10, 000 to T.T.T. Society, Iowa D Chapter—to fund follow-up activities with at-risk girls who attend T.T.T. camps.

In addition to these contributions, The Viking Foundation awarded $43,000 to these nonprofit organizations in Denver County, Colo., and Lancaster County, Neb.:

· $5,000 to Front Range Center for Assault, Denver—to support its program to provide education to prevent child abuse.

· $5,000 to Hearts-n-Hands Work Enrichment, Denver—to provide improvements to the program’s work space where its products are created.

· $6,000 to Women’s Bean Project, Denver—to help launch the provision of short-term, 0 percent loans to current program participants and graduates.

· $4,000 to Cedars, Lincoln—to help fund a new after-school club for fourth and fifth grade boys through the Clinton and Hartley Elementary School Community Learning Centers.

· $5,000 to Child Advocacy Center, Lincoln—to fund forensic interviews for child victims of abuse and neglect.

· $4,000 to Expanding Horizons, Lincoln—for support of educational enrichment activities primarily for low-income, at-risk youth living in northwest Lincoln.

· $5,000 to Friendship Home, Lincoln—to help renovate the youth play and social areas in emergency shelter facilities.

· $5,000 to Lincoln Bike Kitchen—for expenses including tools.

· $4,000 to Lincoln Lancaster County Habitat for Humanity—to replace construction equipment to ensure safety of volunteers.

“Our board of directors is thrilled with the increased number of excellent Polk County proposals in our third year, as well as with the continued growth of the endowment,” said Sally Eggland, Ankeny, member of the Viking Foundation Board. She added that the foundation looks forward to increases in both the level of funding and the number of awarded grants in future years.

The Viking Foundation was created in 2012 to help improve and enrich the lives of individuals – especially children – who are less fortunate. The foundation provides charitable grants annually to 501(c)(3) organizations in three counties, including Polk. The grants are directed to those who are challenged with education, poverty, housing, gender, mental and physical health, and other issues.

The Viking Foundation was started by Steve Eggland, Lincoln. An Iowa native, Eggland is professor emeritus of Vocational and Adult Education at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and retired executive director of The Accrediting Council of Independent Colleges in Washington, D.C.

The impetus for the conception and development of The Viking Foundation grew from a long Eggland family tradition of charitable acts and modest philanthropy. Family stories abound describing the provision of food, shelter and financial assistance to Great Depression-era victims, wayward hired hands and elderly care-givers.

For detailed information about the foundation and its values, proposal guidelines and 2015 submission deadline can be found at vikingfoundation.webs.com.