Amador County – About 18 people attended the second day of a local grant workshop Monday at the county public health building, with mostly non-profit organizations looking for ways to write and collaborate on grant applications. Organizers of the seminar, “Get Ready, Get Set, Go Get Grants” are experts in the art of acquiring grants funding, and even operated the workshop on a “mini-grant” of $1,000 from the Amador Community Foundation, and with technical support from the Amador County Recreation Agency. Facilitators of the workshop were Karen Dickerson of The Grant Tree Group of Jackson, and Renee Chapman of Pine Grove. The pair finished the second of 2 sessions Monday, and set appointments with attendees for assessments of their draft grants on March 1st. Some attendees had already submitted grant applications with the help of Dickerson and Chapman. Dickerson said the most important part of grant writing is the “needs assessment,” telling participants: “You’re going to have to prove that there is a community need.” She said they needed data and facts to support the programs for which they seek grants. Chapman agreed, saying “nothing speaks louder than the facts in the world of grant writing,” and data is at the crux of the project – “demonstrating how your project solves the problem.” Dickerson and Chapman, both successful grant writers, gave a sample proposal and tutored attendees on resources, and outlined the elements of a grant proposal. Dickerson, whose “proven track record” includes more than $1.2 million in grant awards, said a good application should be kept under 9 pages, and include goals, objectives, methods, activities and if possible, sustainability. The grants application should try to answer the particular grantmaker’s mission statement. Dickerson said: “If you ever get the opportunity to be a grant reviewer, do it,” noting that the experience for her has helped her hone her grant writing to cut to the important information, and write what the “grantmakers” want to know. Chapman told attendees to “leave yourselves plenty of time to plan and rewrite” and “don’t find yourselves preaching to the choir,” as people who offer grants to help with certain issues already know the importance of those issues. Other tips include seeking more than one funding source, collaborate as much as possible and make small promises and deliver with big results. Chapman said she liked seeing in workshop break periods how participants “work together on how to make the community better.” The November 9th first session of the workshop included 25 people, and the second had 18 in attendance. Attendees included members of ACRA, Amador County Historic Railroad Foundation, Environmental Health, Children’s Council, State Preschool, Student Music Fund, Child Abuse Prevention Council, Monarch Montessori, TSPN Teen Zone Live, Amador Tuolumne Community Action Agency and Americorps. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Amador County – About 18 people attended the second day of a local grant workshop Monday at the county public health building, with mostly non-profit organizations looking for ways to write and collaborate on grant applications. Organizers of the seminar, “Get Ready, Get Set, Go Get Grants” are experts in the art of acquiring grants funding, and even operated the workshop on a “mini-grant” of $1,000 from the Amador Community Foundation, and with technical support from the Amador County Recreation Agency. Facilitators of the workshop were Karen Dickerson of The Grant Tree Group of Jackson, and Renee Chapman of Pine Grove. The pair finished the second of 2 sessions Monday, and set appointments with attendees for assessments of their draft grants on March 1st. Some attendees had already submitted grant applications with the help of Dickerson and Chapman. Dickerson said the most important part of grant writing is the “needs assessment,” telling participants: “You’re going to have to prove that there is a community need.” She said they needed data and facts to support the programs for which they seek grants. Chapman agreed, saying “nothing speaks louder than the facts in the world of grant writing,” and data is at the crux of the project – “demonstrating how your project solves the problem.” Dickerson and Chapman, both successful grant writers, gave a sample proposal and tutored attendees on resources, and outlined the elements of a grant proposal. Dickerson, whose “proven track record” includes more than $1.2 million in grant awards, said a good application should be kept under 9 pages, and include goals, objectives, methods, activities and if possible, sustainability. The grants application should try to answer the particular grantmaker’s mission statement. Dickerson said: “If you ever get the opportunity to be a grant reviewer, do it,” noting that the experience for her has helped her hone her grant writing to cut to the important information, and write what the “grantmakers” want to know. Chapman told attendees to “leave yourselves plenty of time to plan and rewrite” and “don’t find yourselves preaching to the choir,” as people who offer grants to help with certain issues already know the importance of those issues. Other tips include seeking more than one funding source, collaborate as much as possible and make small promises and deliver with big results. Chapman said she liked seeing in workshop break periods how participants “work together on how to make the community better.” The November 9th first session of the workshop included 25 people, and the second had 18 in attendance. Attendees included members of ACRA, Amador County Historic Railroad Foundation, Environmental Health, Children’s Council, State Preschool, Student Music Fund, Child Abuse Prevention Council, Monarch Montessori, TSPN Teen Zone Live, Amador Tuolumne Community Action Agency and Americorps. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Amador County – In the wake of a student’s lawsuit alleging religious persecution at Amador High School, the Amador County Unified School District board of trustees late last month received a letter from the Foothill Jewish Community urging a more broad approach to combat intolerance. The December 24th letter, included in today’s school board agenda packet, was signed by members of Bnai Israel Foothill Jewish Community congregation, including Bob Baird, Sharyin Cunningham, Lynnette Lipp, Lenora Phillips and Arnie Zeiderman. Addressed to Superintendent Dick Glock and school board, the letter said a congregation committee voted unanimously December 19th to contact the district “regarding our ongoing concern that the district continue with substantive efforts to address the perception that intolerant and sometimes anti-Jewish comments and behaviors are expressed in class and on campus in our schools.” The committee noted said it “appreciates your generic efforts at recognizing ‘intolerance’ as a problem,” and urged “in the context of the alleged historic pattern” that a “more comprehensive program be adopted and broadly implemented” for students, faculty, and administrative and support staff. In the letter, the Bnai committee agreed with a national Jewish group “that all parties will benefit from recognized experts in addressing intolerance.” The letter supported a program presented by Assistant Superintendent Elizabeth Chapin-Pinnoti. The committee offered to work with trustees in community monitoring, and specifically requested “establishing a timeline for implementing the full program,” and “informing the general community through routine news channels.” The committee sought a response and commitment from school board. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Amador County – The Jackson City Council on Monday unanimously approved to refinance city water bonds in order to achieve additional savings in overall debt service. A memorandum from the City’s Bond Counsel stated that “with respect to market conditions…such a refinancing would produce an aggregate savings to the City of approximately $320,000.” City Manager Mike Daly said savings could be as much as $350,000. “That is the range we’re trying to achieve, but that is all dependent on interest rates,” he said. In 1992, the City entered into two sales agreements with the City of Jackson Public Financing Authority totaling $4,840,000 in order to finance various improvements on facilities and property it owns and operates, including a municipal water system. The city refunded those agreements through the issuance of bonds in 1998. The resolution before the council said “the City has determined it is in the interests of the City to provide for the issuance of its 2010 Water Revenue Refunding Bonds…to refund its obligations” from 1998. According to state law, the City is authorized to issue its bonds for the purpose of refunding any outstanding indebtedness payable from the revenues of these properties. The Council authorized the issuance of the bonds in an aggregate principal amount not to exceed $3,000,000, provided that the payments of principal and interest will “produce a net present value savings, as compared to the 1998 bonds.” Authorization was granted to Stinson Securities, LLC of San Francisco, to carry out the process. Daly said most of this will happen in the next three weeks. He said this could equal up to $40,000 a year in savings for the first four years after it is implemented and “could lessen the need to increase water rates.” An update on the result of these savings will take place at an upcoming council meeting, to be announced. Story by Alex Lane This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Amador County – The Jackson Rancheria Casino & Hotel has donated $50,000 to five local organizations. The funds are from the 9th annual Giving Season promotion during which Jackson Rancheria pledged to donate $1 to local charities for every 3,000 points earned by all Dreamcatcher’s Club members in November and December. This year’s recipients are the Amador County Recreation Agency, Amador County Senior Center, Calaveras Food Bank, Habitat for Humanity Calaveras, and Interfaith Food Bank. Each organization received $10,000 in early January, a time when most charities’ funds are seriously low. “In this declining economy,” notes Kathleen Harmon, Director of the Interfaith Food Bank, adding: “Jackson Rancheria continues to make it a priority to give back to the community. This donation matters to us. It’s the biggest donation we ever get and it truly makes a big difference in the services we can provide.” Jeannie Hayward, Director of the Calaveras Food Bank, adds “The partnership with the Resource Connection Food Bank and Jackson Rancheria is significant in the feeding of underserved families in Calaveras County. We appreciate so much that the Rancheria has a giving spirit and understand the needs of the community. Your donation is meaningful to us and does make a difference in what we can do for our community.” Jackson Rancheria Casino & Hotel is located at 12222 New York Ranch Road, Jackson, CA 95642. For more information, call 800-822-WINN or visit JacksonCasino.com. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.