OTTUMWA — United Way of Wapello County began offering its Crock Pot cooking classes back in 2017, which provide cooking classes, recipes, ingredients and slow cookers to families living in poverty.
“The project came out of our work with the local food pantries,” said Ali Wilson, executive director of United Way of Wapello County. “We surveyed the clients to see if it would be useful or beneficial, and quite a few people mentioned they didn’t know what to do with the food they were given or that they didn’t know how to cook it.”
The classes have continued every year since, with three offered in 2019. They were made possible by the University of Iowa College of Public Health’s Community Grant Program. The filing period for the 2020 grant is currently underway.
These grants, which are limited to $3,000, are for organizations with projects that will benefit community health. The university encourages projects that involve local businesses as well.
“It’s a way to spread health-related projects through the business community, in ways they might not currently be involved with,” said Tara McKee, Business Leadership Network coordinator at the College of Public Health.
Applicants must be a nonprofit or government organization based in Iowa. Applications require letters of support from all organizations involved, a project overview, and budget information.
The program allows the university to establish relationships with communities across the state. Faculty and students from the College of Public Health have participated in projects in the past.
“I really enjoy seeing all these projects come through,” said McKee. “In some cases we’ve had students be able to work on the projects too, which has been fun. It’s a nice way to create a connection between the college and the communities, and it’s nice to see these projects having an impact.”
One of last year’s participants provided beds and cribs for children living in poverty, while another performed free health screenings and provided health information at a series of local farmers markets.
The grant requires a one-to-one cash or in-kind match from a local source of funding. Previous grant applicants can’t apply to continue projects they received grants for in the past, but they can apply to begin new projects. Applicants can only receive two grants in a five-year period.
Proposals are due by 5 p.m. Jan. 15, 2020. Contact Tara McKee at tara-mckee@uiowa.edu for more information.
