DES MOINES — The Wellmark Foundation has announced 14 recipients of its 2014 Matching Assets to Community Health (MATCH) grant program in Iowa. These 14 competitively awarded grants create pilot efforts or expand health initiatives that focus on childhood obesity prevention and community-based wellness projects.
"The Wellmark Foundation is proud to award a cumulative total of $877,110 to these grant recipients," said Stephanie Perry, The Wellmark Foundation. "This type of funding allowed our grantees to collaborate and encourage new stakeholders and funding sources to improve the health and well-being of their communities."
Through the 2014 MATCH Grant Program, one of the 14 grants in Iowa that was able to raise the matching funds to receive the grant include Osceola:
City of Osceola, $75,000
Project: Osceola Safe Routes to School/Streetscape Project
This project is a Safe Routes to School/Streetscape infrastructure project that will construct multiple blocks of six-foot wide sidewalks along a route that will connect the elementary school, downtown and middle/high schools, sports complex and existing trails, creating a safe route across the entire city. Educational, encouragement, enforcement and evaluation components of the Safe Routes to School program will also be implemented.