Mini-grants have been awarded to Archie Jenkins of The Farmers Garden, the Even Start Family Literacy Center and the Effingham County Sheriff’s Explorer Post 93.

The Farmers Garden’s purpose is to provide fresh produce to the five food pantries in the county.
Its aim is to purchase a utility trailer for the purpose of picking up the produce available through a group of farmers in Bulloch County.

Even Start Family Literacy Center’s goal is to provide a family-focused program to improve literacy skills, educational level and parenting patterns that promote the academic achievement of children and adults.

The funds will be used to purchase car seats to be used by the program to transport enrolled children up to 8 years old. Transportation is provided Monday-Friday to children up to age 3 and occasionally to 4-year-olds. The group previously provided seats for all enrollees and were able to leave them on the transporting vehicles.

However, because of budget restraints, they are unable to purchase the number of seats needed and are presently sharing seats on availability. In addition to utilizing the seats to transport children, they also want to re-establish the “Seats-On-Loan” program for families in need.

The Explorer Post provides  young adults who may be interested in a career in law enforcement with a comprehensive program of training, competition, service and practical experiences. Character development, physical fitness, good citizenship and patriotism are integral components of the overall program.

Youth between the ages of 15 and 20, who are interested in the career field of law enforcement or criminal justice. The grant funding, if awarded, will be used to purchase required Explorer uniforms for underprivileged youth who join Explorer Post 93. Funding also will provide a resource to pay for under privileged youth to attend field trips for career oriented training.

Qualification is age criteria, maintain at least a C grade average, not on probation or possess a criminal record or unruly.