The DeKalb County Community Foundation is pleased to award $3,309 in Promise Grants to benefit five local organizations for a variety of programs and projects.

Promise Grants provide support to charitable organizations addressing the needs of the underserved and often dismissed populations in DeKalb County. The purpose of the Promise Grant program is to inspire, educate, and empower individuals who may experience extraordinary challenges due to their ethnicity, immigration status, and abilities. Support for this grant program comes from two funds at the Community Foundation: The Promise Fund/El Fondo de la Promesa inspires the community to build leadership skills and empower the underserved population within DeKalb County and The Wiegele Family Early Childhood Literacy Fund supports early childhood literacy for underserved populations with very young children.

2018 Promise Fund Grants:

• Barb Food Mart – $488 to purchase Low-Cost Meal Cook Books in English and Spanish languages
• DeKalb County Youth Service Bureau – $500 to provide a therapeutic group that promotes empowerment
• DeKalb Public Library – $1000 to provide story time activities and a book to children in the Early Learning and Development Center
• Farmworker and Landscaper Advocacy Project (FLAP) – $553 to provide community education programs for Latina Women
• Jerry L. Johns Literacy Clinic – $856 to purchase a white board and letters for kinesthetic teaching techniques

Applications for Promise Grants are available starting in October of each year and due by mid-November.

Join us in providing opportunity and inspiration to the underserved in DeKalb County. A gift to the Promise Fund Grants will allow even greater support in the future. Donations are accepted online, in person, or by mail. If you have questions or wish to discuss your charitable interest in the community, please contact Executive Director Dan Templin, at 815-748-5383 or dan@dekalbccf.org.

Pictured: Rob Cook, member of the Promise Grants committee, delivers an $856.00 grant to Kristine Wilke of NIU’s Jerry L. John’s Literacy Clinic for supplies for kinesthetic learning.